


Against the Abomination

by Master_Argus



Series: PPG Stories [2]
Category: Powerpuff Girls
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Canon Universe, F/M, Near Future, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Redemption, Romance, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24064153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Master_Argus/pseuds/Master_Argus
Summary: The Rowdyruff Boys have been acting strange lately, committing fewer crimes and refusing to fight the Powerpuff Girls. Their "fathers", Mojo Jojo and HIM, have taken notice and decide to do something about it. After a Beat-Alls reunion goes horribly awry, the Girls and the Boys work together to face their most powerful enemy yet.
Relationships: Boomer/Bubbles Utonium, Brick/Blossom Utonium, Butch/Buttercup Utonium
Series: PPG Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748089
Comments: 29
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

It was a clear sunny day in Townsville Park, where the city had gathered to celebrate the Powerpuff Girls' 13th birthday. As per tradition, all the Girls' friends, family and fans came out to give presents and extend their gratitude to the city's heroes and protectors, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. After a couple hours of mingling with their guests, the Professor called the Girls to blow out the candles on their enormous birthday cake.

"Happy Birthday, Powerpuff Girls!" the citizens of Townsville exclaimed in unison. Taking care not to launch it over the horizon as they'd done numerous times before, the Girls toned down their super breath, made their wishes and extinguished all but three of their candles, one pink, one blue and one green. Bubbles looked at the remaining candles and felt an ill omen.

"That's… not a good sign."

"Don't be so superstitious, Bubbles. We took precautions this year." Blossom pointed to their pile of presents. Remembering past instances, the Girls had gone through them and separated out any that came from villains. The suspicious-looking presents were contained behind a forcefield the Professor rigged up. Those that remained were placed on a picnic table.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Buttercup agreed as she blew out the remaining candles. "Blossom's got the right idea. Let's go open presents!"

"Can we, Professor?" Bubbles asked her dad.

"I suppose you girls have waited long enough. Go ahead, but be careful." Professor Utonium warned as he cut the cake. Each girl took a slice as they made their way over to the present table. The Professor continued passing out slices to the guests.

"Alright, let's open… these… presents…" Blossom trailed off as she heard three streaks of light touch down behind her. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!"

The Powerpuff Girls turned around to see their evil male counterparts, the Rowdyruff Boys, Brick, Boomer and Butch. Blossom and Buttercup locked eyes with Brick and Butch, ready to fight as soon the Boys tried to pull something. Bubbles, on the other hand, put her head down and started fidgeting right after she saw Boomer, who also avoided eye contact with any of the girls.

"Afternoon, ladies." Butch quipped sarcastically.

"Oh, great, it's these jerks. What are you doing here?" Buttercup groaned.

"What do you mean, 'these jerks'? And you do realize this is a public park, right? We just happened to be in the area." Brick retorted.

"Please. This was clearly our birthday party." Blossom gestured toward a large banner that read 'Happy Birthday, Powerpuff Girls!'. "Do you really expect me to believe you're not here to mess with us?"

"Enough of this! You here to pick a fight or what?" Buttercup scowled at the boys and raised her fist. Butch cracked his neck and put his fists up in response, awaiting Brick's order to attack.

Brick paused for a moment. He noticed Boomer was awkwardly staring off with his hands behind his back. His unfocused behavior wouldn't be of any help. Brick remembered their last fight with the Girls and how Boomer had failed them. Despite Butch being as eager as ever, the Boys' leader decided that risking a repeat of that disaster wasn't worth the trouble.

"Nah, I'm not feeling it today. You girls enjoy your birthday. Maybe we'll attack tomorrow. Or maybe next week. My schedule's pretty open." With that he turned and walked away, gesturing for his brothers to follow. Butch grumbled in disappointment as he swiped three pieces of birthday cake and went to join his brother. Boomer tried to say something, but just went with the other two boys, leaving the Powerpuff Girls alone.

"What was that all about?" Buttercup asked with a mixture of frustration and confusion.

"First time we see them in months and it's at our birthday party. What are the odds?" Blossom asked rhetorically. "Oh well. They probably just wanted to steal some cake."

"So do we go after them?"

"No, there's enough for everyone. Plus I don't want to give them the satisfaction."

"Speak for yourself. I wouldn't mind punching Butch in the face a few times. Or in the…"

"Easy there, Buttercup." As Blossom quelled her sister, she heard another voice coming from the crowd. "What is it now?" Blossom and Buttercup turned to see three overgrown protozoans brandishing wiffle bats at the other guests.

"Nobody move, see! We're here to commit the greatest crime in the history of Townsville!" yelled their leader.

"Oh, it's the Amoeba Boys." Blossom chirped. "We should go say hi to them."

"Sure." Buttercup agreed and turned to her other sister. "You coming, Bubbles?" Bubbles hadn't said anything since the Rowdyruff Boys showed up, and now she was looking off in the direction the Boys had fled. Buttercup tried again to snap her sister out of her daze. "Bubbles? Yo, Bubbles!"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, coming."

As she turned away, Boomer quickly returned and approached the table with the Girls' pile of presents. He took out a small box wrapped in blue paper and placed it in the pile. "Happy birthday, Bubbles." he whispered. Then he flew off to rejoin his brothers.


	2. Chapter 2

The Rowdyruff Boys touched down on a bench several blocks away from Townsville Park. Butch handed each of his brothers a slice of the cake he'd swiped from the party. Without hesitation, the Boys started digging into their ill-gotten gains. Brick reflected on what had just happened and decided it was time for some questions.

"Alright, Boomer. We crashed the Powerpuffs' party like you wanted. Now what was the point of that?"

"C'mon, I thought you'd want to fight with them on their birthday." Boomer replied. "What better time?"

"I did wanna fight." Butch chimed in. "Brick, why'd you have us leave just when things were getting good?"

"In case you forgot, someone chickened out last time and cost us the fight." He replied pointing to Boomer. "How do I know you wouldn't have screwed things up this time, too?"

"I didn't chicken out this time. You did!" Boomer retorted.

"He's got a point there." Butch added in support of Boomer.

"That was a tactical retreat!" Brick ignored Butch and continued harping on Boomer. "You were unfocused and clearly not ready to fight. We can't win if we're down a man."

"Ugh, you and your tactics." Butch interrupted. "You waste too much time thinking. And we can't win by retreating, either."

"Hey, if you wanna go fight them yourself, be my guest."

"All three of them at once?! I'm crazy, not suicidal."

"That's some pretty tactical thinking. I'm proud of you, Butch."

"Oh, shut up!"

As his brothers argued, Boomer went back to his cake. He thought to himself, _maybe I did chicken out today_. He had wanted to hand his gift to Bubbles in person. And ever since that day six months ago, he'd also wanted to say some things to her, but feared repercussion from his bullying brothers or her potentially overprotective sisters. He needed to talk to her alone, and was hoping to create that opportunity today.

His plan was for his brothers to start a big fight with Blossom and Buttercup as they'd done so many times before. With all of them distracted, perhaps he'd have a chance to give Bubbles her present and maybe get some things off his chest. Unfortunately, Brick had ordered a retreat before Boomer even got a chance, something Boomer never expected of the Rowdyruff Boys' leader. But at least he'd gotten the present onto the table. Maybe she was opening it right now.

"At least it wasn't a total loss…" Boomer said out loud without thinking.

"What was that?" Brick asked.

"Uh, well... we did get cake out of it." Boomer took a bite of his slice. "This is good cake."

"I guess I can't argue with that." Brick also took a bite and agreed.

After the Boys finished their cake, they tossed their plastic forks and paper plates on the ground. They decided it was time to go home and flew back to Mojo Jojo's lair.

*****

"Watch your backs, Powerpuff Girls! We'll be back next year!" The Amoeba Boys laughed maniacally as they fled with their "stolen" cake and party favors. The Girls and their guests simply waved goodbye to the wannabe criminals.

"We really should stop humoring those guys." Buttercup complained while rubbing her forehead.

"I know, but I just can't help it." Blossom replied. "They try so hard."

"Oh well. Back to presents!" Bubbles chirped eagerly.

"Yeah, no more interruptions!" Buttercup agreed as she and her sisters dashed back to the present table. Wasting no more time, the girls tore into their birthday presents. Blossom started with a large one wrapped in pink. The tag said it was for her from Ms. Bellum. She unwrapped the present to reveal an exquisite alabaster chess set she'd had her eye on for a while.

"Awesome! Thank you, Ms. Bellum!" Blossom shouted to the mayor's assistant in the crowd.

"Ugh, boring." Buttercup groaned. Blossom responded by rolling her eyes. Having neither the patience nor the strategic mindset required for chess, Buttercup never appreciated the game like Blossom did. Buttercup grabbed a present of hers from the pile. This one was from Robin Snyder and looked like a video game. Buttercup unwrapped it.

"Whoa, Soul and Sword VIII! Now this is my kind of game." Buttercup turned to her nextdoor neighbor who happened to be standing nearby. "You're the best, Robin!"

"You're welcome. Fight me online sometime!" Robin replied.

"Will do!" Buttercup accepted Robin's challenge.

"Eww." Bubbles exclaimed, never being a fan of violent fighting games like the Soul and Sword series. It was her turn to open something from the pile. She grabbed a small present wrapped in blue and picked it up.

"Who's that one from?" asked Blossom. Bubbles checked the tag in response.

"It says it's from… Boomer?"

"What?! I thought we went through these already." Buttercup shouted.

"He must've snuck it into the pile when we weren't watching. Looks like that's why they showed up." Blossom speculated.

Not paying attention to her sisters, Bubbles started untying the ribbon, but Blossom quickly stopped her. "Hey, what are you doing?! That could be a bomb!" Blossom yelled at Bubbles.

"C'mon, Boomer wouldn't send me a bomb." Bubbles realized what she said and quickly caught herself. "...He isn't smart enough to make one."

"No, but Brick might be. He could've done it and put Boomer's name on the tag to trick us. Whatever the case, we can't risk opening it." Bubbles begrudgingly agreed to Blossom's reasoning and set the present aside.

"Ooh, let's open this big one here." Buttercup pointed to a large present for all three of them. The tag said it was from Ms. Keane, so the Girls started unwrapping.

*****

The Rowdyruff Boys arrived at Mojo's lair. They opened the door and entered into the main room. As they headed to their bedroom, they heard their creator's voice over a loudspeaker.

"Brick! Boomer! Butch! Come to my laboratory at once!" Mojo Jojo demanded. The three boys sighed and made their way to the lab as Mojo requested. The evil chimpanzee was sitting in an swivel chair watching the Powerpuff Girls' birthday party on a jumbo-sized monitor. He turned his chair to face the Boys and began lecturing them.

"As you were previously aware, I possess a vast network of surveillance devices that enable me to observe the entirety of the world. And I have been using one such surveillance device to monitor the celebratory gathering held in honor of the birth of the Powerpuff Girls. I noticed that you boys had attended the party and neglected to engage in combat with them."

"Yeah, so?" Boomer responded.

"So, you were created by me for the express purpose of eliminating those girls. Explain to me why you have failed to perform the task that I, Mojo Jojo, have explicitly instructed you to do!"

"I dunno, ask Brick." Butch replied with visible frustration, gesturing towards his brother.

Brick clenched his teeth and fought back his anger. How dare Mojo say that! If there's one thing he hated more than the Powerpuff Girls, it was having a purpose imposed on him. Brick was nobody's servant or weapon; his choices were his own. He'd wanted to tell his "father" off for some time now, but he and his brothers needed room and board. For now, Brick just had to grin and bear it. Luckily he had an excuse this time.

"Well, we didn't wanna interfere with your plan." Brick lied. "You deserve all the glory."

"Mmm, understandable." Mojo turned back to the monitor and saw that the girls were about to open "Ms. Keane's" present. "Ah, speaking of my plan…"

*****

The Girls unwrapped the oversized present to find a large metal box. Right after being unwrapped, two jets appeared below the box, propelling it into the air. It then started playing a prerecorded message.

"Hahahahaha! Foolish Powerpuff Girls! I, Mojo Jojo, knew that this year you would avoid opening any presents from villainous persons or from anonymous gift-givers. By labeling my present with a name familiar to you, I was able to bypass your precautions and trick you into opening this present and setting my plan into motion. Now I, Mojo Jojo, shall destroy you once and for all!" The box slowly unfolded and transformed into a 20-foot-tall humanoid robot wearing a purple cape. The party guests ran for their lives as the robot touched down and prepared to attack.

"Not again." Bubbles moaned.

"Every year…" Buttercup sighed.

"Let's get him, Girls!" Blossom shouted, and the Powerpuff Girls began their counterattack.


	3. Chapter 3

The Powerpuff Girls started off by luring Mojo's robot away from the party area. It was after them and they couldn't allow it to trample the guests. Or, heaven-forbid, the presents. Sure enough, the robot took to the sky and flew after its targets. It shot a laser from its hand at Blossom, who countered with her eye beams. As Blossom's lasers pushed back against the robot's, Bubbles saw an opportunity to smash the robot's head, but was met with several laser blasts from the robot's other hand, forcing her to dodge. Luckily, with both of the robot's hands occupied, Buttercup was able to ram straight into its torso plate, knocking it back and allowing Blossom's eye beams to overpower the robot's laser. The force of the beams crashed the robot into the ground floor of an empty office building. Bubbles took the chance to let out a sonic scream at the floors above the robot, causing rubble to fall on and bury it.

"Oh yeah! Take that, Mojo!" Blossom gloated. However, her victory celebration was premature, as the robot projected a forcefield to clear away the rubble. It then picked itself up and continued its attack. All three Powerpuff Girls shot lasers at the robot, but it simply used its forcefield to block them. Energy attacks clearly weren't going to work.

"A forcefield, huh?" Buttercup observed. Having fought with Butch for years, she'd long since figured out how to deal with them. They're great for deflecting lasers and other types of energy attacks, but they crumble under strong physical blows, the kind she loved dishing out. "Follow my lead, girls!" She shot a green laser at the robot, prompting it to put up its shield. Then, following the path of her laser, slammed into the forcefield, causing a noticeable crack to appear in it.

"Nice one, Buttercup! Alright, let's do this together!" Blossom joined with her sisters and combined their beams into one. Mojo's robot had no choice but to block it. Once the forcefield was up, the Girls joined hands and flew feet-first at it. Putting all their might into three simultaneous kicks to one point on the forcefield caused it to shatter.

*****

"Dang, she's good." Butch spoke from experience as he watched Buttercup's strategy in action on Mojo's monitor. How ironic that his special power was all but useless against his female counterpart, who strongly preferred physical attacks to energy beams.

"Looks like you're not doing so hot, Mojo." Brick pointed out to his creator.

"That's where you're wrong. For I, Mojo Jojo, have equipped this robot with the ultimate weapon to use to vanquish the Powerpuff Girls."

Boomer tensed up at Mojo's statement. "Be safe, Bubbles." he whispered in his softest possible voice.

*****

"Now that the forcefield is down, we should be able to…" Blossom was cut off by the robot shooting a strand of sticky brown paper at her. Wrapped in a cocoon of the stuff, she fell to the ground and was helplessly stuck to the pavement.

"Oh no, not…" Buttercup was also shot by the same attack and rendered helpless.

"Flypaper!" Bubbles shouted in fear. Mojo's robot also shot at Bubbles, but the blue Powerpuff was quick enough to dodge it. Faced with her and her sisters' greatest weakness, she had no choice but to hide behind a nearby dumpster. The robot then turned and headed back towards Townsville Park.

"Bubbles, help!" Blossom begged her sister.

"I'm coming!" Bubbles dashed over to where her sisters were stuck. She tried to think of a way to free the other two, but was blanking on ideas. Then she remembered back to a previous fight they'd had with the Rowdyruff Boys.

Years ago, Blossom had worked out that if the Powerpuff Girls were weak to flypaper, then the Boys should also share that weakness. The Girls' plan was to entangle the Boys in the stuff in order to stop them, then throw them in jail. They'd set up a web of flypaper to lure the Boys into, and it had initially worked on Boomer and Butch, but Brick simply used his fire breath to burn the flypaper away. The Girls lost that battle, but the knowledge they gained would help them win this one.

"I'll be back in a second." Bubbles told her sisters as she went dumpster-diving. Luckily she found a discarded lighter and a can of hairspray. There was just enough left in each item to burn the flypaper with a makeshift flamethrower. "Remind me to thank Brick sometime." Bubbles joked. Blossom wasn't amused, but was thankful to be out of that sticky mess.

"Too bad none of us can breathe fire." Buttercup bemoaned.

"True, but we do have one fire-based technique." Blossom then issued a command to her sisters. "Form Furious Flaming Feline!"

*****

"Blast it all! I thought for sure the flypaper would work. How dare those girls discover a countermeasure to utilize against their greatest known physical weakness." Mojo Jojo rambled as he watched the Girls join together into a large fiery cat.

"Huh, that's pretty cool." Brick was intrigued after seeing that combo attack of theirs for the first time. Why didn't they use it more often? It seemed powerful. If the Powerpuff Girls could combine to form that thing, then maybe he and his brothers could…

"Silence!" Mojo reprimanded Brick for breaking his concentration. Then he continued observing the battle.

*****

Mojo's robot was approaching Townsville Park when it heard a loud roar behind it. It turned to face the Furious Flaming Feline charging at it fast. The robot shot its strands of flypaper at the Feline, but they simply burned up on contact. With no more forcefield and no effective weapons, the robot stood no chance as the Feline slammed into it and clawed into its fuel tank, igniting the gasoline inside and making the robot explode.

The Feline separated into the three Powerpuff Girls. They floated back to the present table and took a bow as the unharmed citizens of Townsville cheered for their victory.

*****

"Curse those Powerpuff Girls!" Mojo Jojo grumbled. Yet another one of his genius plans thwarted. Mojo slouched back in his chair and let out a depressed sigh.

"Ouch! Sorry about that, Mojo." Brick feigned his condolences.

"Yeah, better luck next year." Butch added. Boomer said nothing and simply exhaled a sigh of relief under his breath.

"Ugh, Mojo is exhausted." The mad monkey turned off his monitor and left for his bedroom. The Rowdyruff Boys did the same.

*****

"Okay, forget what the Professor said, I'm using my X-ray vision on these." Buttercup asserted, scoping out her next present.

"You're right, Buttercup. We don't really have a choice now." Blossom agreed. "And I know just what to start with." Blossom turned towards Boomer's present and activated her X-ray eyes. After taking a good look inside, a puzzled expression crept onto her face. "That's odd. It's a…"

"Hey, don't tell me!" Bubbles interjected and covered her ears. Blossom looked even more puzzled at Bubbles' outburst.

"Well, it looks safe to open." Blossom handed Bubbles the present. "Here you go." Bubbles unwrapped it. Inside was a jewelry box, and inside that was a silver bracelet with an oval-shaped turquoise stone.

"Ooh, pretty!" Bubbles exclaimed as she tried it on. She looked at it and smiled, thinking about who it came from. She felt her face turning a little red, so she turned away from her sisters and started X-raying and opening more of her gifts.

Blossom didn't understand. Why did Boomer give Bubbles a bracelet? What was his game? At this point all Blossom could do was wonder.

"What the heck is going on here?"


	4. Chapter 4

Brick and Butch retired to their bedroom after watching Mojo's plan fail. Their creator had gone to bed early and forgotten to make dinner, so Boomer went to the kitchen and put in a frozen pizza for the Boys. Brick sat at his desk and opened up his laptop. Butch took a rubber ball and tossed it against the wall, bored out of his mind.

"You know, Brick, there's still a couple hours of daylight left. We can still attack the…"

"In the middle of a game, here!" Brick cut his brother off. Butch noticed that Brick was playing that dumb chess game online again. The green brother was going to say something, but then Boomer came in with their pizza. Butch was more hungry than confrontational at the moment, so he left Brick alone for the time being. Each brother grabbed a slice.

"What, just cheese? No pepperoni or sausage?" Butch complained to Boomer.

"Wasn't hungry for it today."

"C'mon, I'm a growing boy. I need meat."

"Then you make the pizza next time." Boomer quit arguing and sat down in front of the TV. He popped in the latest Tale of Hilda game and started playing. Butch relented and ate the pizza anyway. At least it was better than that disgusting fish and shrimp dish Mojo always made.

Once the boys finished their meal, they continued hanging around in their room. After about half an hour of nothing happening, Butch was fed up and decided to interrogate the Boys' leader.

"I can't take this anymore! Why aren't we fighting the Powerpuff Girls? Isn't that what we were born to do?"

Brick clenched his teeth at Butch's sudden outburst. "Don't you ever get tired of kowtowing to that stupid monkey?"

"This isn't about Mojo. You said fighting the Girls was our purpose. Besides, it's fun."

"Is it even that fun?" Boomer butted in. "We never win anyway."

"Well maybe if someone didn't…" Brick began chiding Boomer.

"Don't give me that!" Butch interjected. "Boomer's screwed up before, but we never stopped fighting the Girls because of it."

"Alright, enough!" Brick shouted over his brothers. "How 'bout we put it to a vote? All in favor of attacking the Powerpuff Girls tonight?" Butch raised his hand. "All opposed?" Brick and Boomer both raised their hands. "Looks like you've been outvoted, Butch. Democracy wins again!" Brick and Boomer returned to their games.

Even Butch could see he wasn't getting anywhere with this. He decided to drop the issue and go back to his rubber ball for now. But sooner or later Brick would have to give him a straight answer.

The Powerpuff Girls finished opening their presents as the crowd dispersed and went home. They'd gotten a nice haul this year. Even X-raying the suspicious presents showed some of them to be genuine, though there was the usual bad stuff. Poisoned meat from Fuzzy Lumpkins, time-release Antidote X packets from Princess Morbucks, hate-mail from the Gangreen Gang, and whatever that weird thing Sedusa sent them was, all of which the Professor incinerated behind the forcefield.

"Nice try, losers!" Buttercup boasted observing the ashes of the villains' presents.

"Yeah, good riddance!" Bubbles agreed. "Let's go home."

"Right…" Blossom said.

As the Girls flew back to their house, Blossom still couldn't shake her suspicions about Bubbles' bracelet. The bracelet itself looked harmless, but it did come from one of their enemies. Then again, the Rowdyruff Boys hadn't really done anything for the past six months or so. Maybe they had changed? No, certainly not. Brick had long since declared that destroying the Powerpuff Girls was the Boys' sole purpose in life. Someone as proud and bullheaded as him wasn't likely to ever change his mind. If the events of today had taught Blossom anything, it was better safe than sorry. She'd have to take a closer look at that bracelet.

*****

While Brick and Boomer slept, Butch was lying awake thinking about his brothers' sudden disinterest in fighting the Powerpuff Girls. All of this started six months ago after their most recent confrontation. It began like any other Powerpuff-Rowdyruff showdown, except that two minutes into the fight, Boomer suddenly retreated. Why was that? Did he get scared? Did he suddenly develop a conscience?

As strange as Boomer's behavior was, it was Brick's reasoning that was most concerning. He kept blaming Boomer's retreat for his unwillingness to attack, but it's not like Boomer hadn't failed them before. There had to be more to it than that. Brick was hiding something. No doubt about it.

_What did Brick say about kowtowing to Mojo?_ Butch wondered. As if he cared about any of that. Heroes and villains, right and wrong, good and evil, none of that mattered to him. He was happy as long as he got to fight, and it just so happened that his favorite opponents by far were the Powerpuff Girls, especially Buttercup. _Man, that girl knows how to fight. Butch thought. Strong, aggressive, and always a worthy challenge. Not to mention she's so… wait, I'm getting off-track. What did Brick say about kowtowing to Mojo?_

"Better get to sleep." Butch whispered to himself. Tomorrow he'd be sure to confront Brick about that kowtowing thing. Maybe that would give Butch the answers he needed.

*****

_Six in the morning. Perfect!_ Blossom thought after waking up and glancing at the clock. Rather than set the alarm and risk waking up her sisters, Blossom drank seven glasses of water the night before. After a mad dash to the bathroom, she snuck back to the Girls' bedroom and grabbed Bubbles' bracelet off the nightstand.

_Sorry, Bubbles, but I have to figure out what those boys are up to._ Blossom thought as she took the bracelet to her father's room. Ever the early bird, Professor Utonium was already up and ready for some lab work.

"Hey, Professor."

"Oh, Blossom, what is it?"

"Bubbles got this bracelet as a present yesterday. I think it's kind of suspicious. Can we take it to the lab and analyze it?"

*****

Mojo Jojo and the Rowdyruff Boys sat down to a breakfast of eggs and toast. Brick and Butch scowled at each other as they ate. Boomer kept his head down and stayed out of the conflict.

"So boys, what destructive and villainous activities are on your itinerary today?" Mojo asked his sons.

"Yeah, Brick. What destructive and villainous activities are on our itinerary?" Butch demanded sarcastically.

"I'm working on that." Brick lied, hoping to get Mojo and Butch off his back. He wolfed down the last of his breakfast. "Can I be excused?"

"Very well." Mojo granted Brick permission to leave. Brick went back to his room. Butch and Boomer followed as soon as they'd finished eating.

"Hmm. Perhaps this warrants an investigation." Mojo pondered. Butch wasn't the only one suspicious of Brick's behavior. Mojo had also noticed his evasiveness and unwillingness to fight. This time Mojo would get to the bottom of it. He took a small bugging device and quietly stuck it to his sons' bedroom door. Then he retreated to the lab to listen in.

*****

Professor Utonium approached Blossom with a printout of the tests he'd run on Bubbles' bracelet. "Well, I've thoroughly examined it every way I can, and…"

"What'd you find?"

"Nothing. The rock is ordinary turquoise and the band is sterling silver. There's no bugging devices or explosives or any electronics of any kind in it. I even checked it for curses and evil spirits." The Professor explained as he gestured to his dowsing stick and incense burner. "Looks like it's perfectly safe."

"I see…"

"By the way, who did Bubbles get this from?"

"Umm… Ms. Bellum." Blossom lied. The Professor responded with a quizzical look. She quickly thought up an excuse. "Well, one of 'Ms. Keane's' gifts turned out to be a trap. I guess I got a little paranoid." As uncomfortable as she felt lying to her father, she thought it best he didn't worry about who the bracelet was from.

"Well, now you can put those fears to rest!" The Professor handed her the bracelet. "Go give this back to your sister." Then the Professor went back to his own work.

Blossom took the bracelet and the printouts from the Professor's analysis. Rather than feeling relieved, for some reason she was even more on edge than before. Why would Boomer give Bubbles a perfectly normal bracelet? What did it mean? Was it a phony peace offering? Did he steal it to try and frame her? Maybe the Professor missed something and it really was a trap. Blossom continued racking her brain as she exited the lab.

*****

Buttercup sat in the living room playing Soul and Sword VIII online with Robin. Their fighters, Sigarda and Yoshitaka, duked it out on screen. After an intense battle, Robin had just barely won the match.

"Your luck ran out… when you decided to challenge me!" Yoshitaka gloated as he sheathed his katana. The screen read 'Yoshitaka Wins!'.

"Owned you, Buttercup!" Robin bragged over the voice chat.

"Grr! One more round!" Buttercup demanded.

As the two girls fought and trash-talked each other using language too raunchy for a General Audiences fanfic, Bubbles flew into the living room, desperately ransacking it in search of her missing bracelet. "Buttercup, did you…?"

"For the last time, I haven't seen your…" A loud sword clang sounded from the TV. "...bracelet."

"What's this about a…" Another clang rang out. "...bracelet?" Robin asked Buttercup.

"Oh, it's just Bubbles." Buttercup and Robin got back to their game as Bubbles continued searching. Several minutes later, Bubbles noticed Blossom leaving the Professor's lab holding the bracelet and some papers.

"I just don't get it…" Blossom mumbled to herself.

"So you stole my bracelet!" Bubbles accused her sister. "Give it back!"

Blossom turned to Bubbles and sighed. "I didn't steal it. I just took it to the lab for analysis."

"Oh, and what did your analysis say?"

"Apparently there's nothing unusual about it."

"Okay, then give it back!"

"Bubbles, doesn't it strike you as odd that Boomer gave this to you? Didn't you ever think he might be up to something?"

"Well, he isn't! You just said the bracelet is fine."

"Yeah, and that's what's so suspicious."

"How is it suspicious that there's nothing wrong with it?!" Bubbles was getting sick of Blossom's paranoia and tried to turn the tables on her. "Why don't you examine your chess set? Maybe Sedusa put a bomb in one of the horses."

"Knights, Bubbles! They're called knights! And I know we can trust Ms. Bellum!"

"Maybe it was Sedusa disguised as Ms. Bellum."

"Bubbles, you idiot!" Blossom finally lost her patience. "Try to take this seriously for once! You should know better than to trust Boomer! Haven't you forgotten he's a Rowdyruff Boy? A villain? The fact is that he's our enemy and we can't let our guard down just because he gave you this cheap trinket for a birthday present!"

Bubbles burst into tears at Blossom's outburst and flew to their room crying. Blossom immediately felt guilty about it and floated onto the couch next to Buttercup, hanging her head in shame.

"All that over a dumb bracelet?" Buttercup said to her sister. "You're taking this way too seriously."

"Maybe you're right. I'll go talk to her." Blossom floated upstairs to their bedroom. Soon after, the Professor emerged from the lab.

"I heard Bubbles crying. What happened?" the Professor asked Buttercup.

"Oh, Blossom yelled at her about that bracelet she got from Boomer. Honestly, I think she's too…"

"Wait, did you say it was from Boomer? As in the Rowdyruff Boy?"

Buttercup could sense something in the Professor's tone. "Uh, Robin, I think I have to go." she said into her mic.


	5. Chapter 5

Blossom hovered next to the doorframe of the Powerpuff Girls' bedroom. She saw Bubbles lying on the bed face-down, sobbing into her pillow. "Hey, can I come in?" Blossom asked. Bubbles turned her head to look at Blossom, but immediately turned back without saying anything. Blossom floated to the side of their bed and sat down.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Bubbles." Blossom began her apology. "And I'm sorry I took your bracelet without asking."

Bubbles sat up and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "You really mean it?"

"Yeah. It's just that those boys have been acting so strange and I've been losing my mind about it for months now. I guess Boomer giving you that present pushed me over the edge. But I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm so sorry, Bubbles."

"Apology accepted." Bubbles stopped crying. "That still doesn't make sense, though. Why's it suspicious that they're not fighting us?"

"I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I keep thinking about Brick…"

"You've been thinking about Brick all this time?" Bubbles teased. Blossom chose to ignore what Bubbles was implying.

"Well, he said that he and his brothers' sole purpose in life was to destroy us, and I just can't see him going back on that. If they're not attacking us now, they're probably biding their time or trying to lull us into a false sense of security."

"C'mon, they're not that smart. Maybe they just don't want to fight us anymore."

"Don't underestimate them. Brick's come a long way over the years. He's gotten very intelligent and his plans are really clever. If he wasn't our enemy I'd actually be pretty impressed." Blossom noticed Bubbles smirking at her. "Oh, quit it! He vowed to destroy us, remember?"

"Maybe, but what about Boomer? He's the one who gave me the bracelet."

"Well, he is Brick's brother…" Bubbles hung her head at Blossom's statement. Blossom decided that Bubbles had suffered enough. "But even if he is up to something, I know the bracelet itself is safe." She took out the bracelet and gave it to Bubbles. "Go ahead, wear it with pride!"

"Thanks, Blossom!" Bubbles hugged her sister in forgiveness. As they pulled apart, Buttercup and Professor Utonium entered the room, the latter with a concerned look on his face.

"Is everything alright in here?"

"It is now, Professor." Bubbles replied.

"That's good to hear." The Professor turned to Blossom and sharpened his tone. "Now Blossom, Buttercup told me that the bracelet came from Boomer. I must say, I'm disappointed in you for lying to me."

"Sorry, Professor. I just didn't want you to worry."

"Well, I'll let it slide this time. But that's not what I'm here for. The thing is, you girls are growing up, and it's time we all had a little talk."

Blossom's face went blank, having a good idea where the Professor was going with this. She opened her mouth to try and excuse herself, but suddenly all three girls' phones started to ring. Blossom breathed a sigh of relief and answered hers first. "What is it, Mayor?"

"Blossom, help! There's a giant bug destroying Townsville!"

"Thank you so much, Mayor! We're on our way!"

"Err, you're welcome?" At the Mayor's behest, the Girls flew to Townsville to save the day.

*****

The Rowdyruff Boys went back to their room after breakfast. Brick was back first and pulled out his laptop. Butch arrived next and began hovering over Brick to see what he was doing. Once Boomer came in and closed the door behind them, Brick decided he was fed up with his green brother. "Ok, Butch, what is it?"

"What? You said you were planning something. I just want to know what you've got so far."

"You know very well I'm not planning anything. I just said that to get Mojo off my back."

"Right, you don't want to 'kowtow' to him anymore, do you?"

"This again?! I told you, Boomer might screw up…"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that excuse before!" Butch decided to take a direct approach. "I want to know the real reason!" Butch then turned his attention to Boomer. "That goes for you, too! Why'd you flee from battle?! You had no excuse!"

"I, uh…" Boomer struggled to think of something. There was no way he could let his brothers know the real reason. Fortunately Brick answered first.

"Well, if you must know…" Brick could see Butch wasn't letting up any time soon, so he decided to give his brother a straight answer. "I've come to realize that destroying the Powerpuff Girls is what Mojo wants. He forced that purpose on us when he created us. But I've decided that I'm nobody's slave. I won't serve Mojo or HIM or whoever else tries to conscript us into doing their dirty work!"

"Yeah, what Brick said!" Boomer added.

"Blah, blah, blah, who cares about that?! Yeah, Mojo's an idiot. Yeah, he can't do anything right. And yeah, he's a total egomaniac. But fighting those girls is what I live for, and it used to be what you lived for too. Honestly, I think you've just gone soft. Or…" Butch smirked at Brick and tried something drastic. "Or maybe there's something you're not telling me about a certain pink Powerpuff…"

Brick finally reached his boiling point. How dare Butch suggest something so inane! On top of that, that giant locust destroying Townsville outside was making such an infernal racket. Brick decided he needed to let out his anger. "Fine, you like fighting so much?!" He took flight and headed to the window. "See if you can keep up!" Brick then flew off to attack the monster.

"Hey, this isn't over yet!" Butch flew after his brother. Boomer followed shortly after.

*****

The Powerpuff Girls flew to downtown Townsville, keeping their eyes out for a large humanoid monster with four arms and the head and wings of a locust as the Mayor had described. Something like that should be hard to miss, but monsters can be tricky sometimes, especially the insectoid ones. Buttercup noticed Bubbles wearing her bracelet and thought back to that silly argument her sisters had.

"You know, it's funny. That stupid bracelet caused more trouble for us than Mojo's robot."

"It's not stupid, it's pretty!" Bubbles retorted, looking at her left wrist.

"Stay focused, girls! We need to take out that overgrown insect." Blossom ordered as the monster came into view. As they approached it, they saw three streaks of light flying around and attacking it. The girls halted their flight and kept their distance in order to assess the situation.

"It can't be them again, can it?" Buttercup asked, hoping to be wrong. But sure enough, closer observation showed that it was in fact the Rowdyruff Boys fighting the monster. As Buttercup and Blossom tried to make sense of the situation, Bubbles broke the silence.

"Shouldn't we help them?"

"No, not yet." Blossom answered. "We can't butt in now or we might find ourselves in a three-way fight."

"Then what's your plan?" Buttercup asked with slight disappointment.

"Let's wait and see how the fight goes. If the monster wins, we take it out. If the Boys win, we'll question them and fight back if they attack us. Whoever wins will be worn out from battle, giving us the advantage." At Blossom's command, the girls quietly floated to the roof of a nearby building and observed the battle.

*****

Brick began the fight by flying into the locust at full speed and punching it in the thorax. The monster swatted at him in response, but he proved too fast for it. Butch and Boomer joined the battle soon after. Boomer shot several lasers at the monster's head while Butch joined Brick in attacking the torso. Butch got in a few good punches before the locust clapped its lower two hands on him, stunning him and causing him to fall to the ground. Brick swooped in to catch Butch before he hit the pavement. The monster tried to grab them with his upper right hand, but Boomer shot it with his laser eyes, forcing the giant insect to pull its hand back.

"Get up!" Brick slapped Butch, who then snapped out of his daze and went back to attacking the bug. Brick followed closely as both of them joined up with Boomer. The three boys joined hands and spun in a circle, generating a green energy bolt and shooting it at the locust, knocking it back into a building. Butch took the opportunity to grab a large chunk of a toppled skyscraper and fly over the locust with it.

"Squish the bug!" Butch dropped his payload on the monster, squashing it flat. The Rowdyruff Boys high-fived each other in celebration, but were then swarmed by locusts coming from under the rubble. The boys swatted at the insects, trying to squish as many as they could. While they were busy, a large cloud of locusts joined together and reformed into the monster on top of the downed skyscraper.

"That's not fair!" Boomer griped.

"Alright, new strategy!" Brick yelled to his brothers. "Force it to split itself up. I can handle the small bugs." With that, Brick breathed his fiery breath at the locusts surrounding him, burning them to ashes.

Boomer and Butch each took large chunks of rubble and threw it at the monster. To avoid getting squashed, it was forced to separate into the swarm, at which point Brick exhaled a torrent of flames at it. Unfortunately he only managed to burn a few bugs before the swarm as a whole flew to the top of a building and recombined. The locust came up with a strategy of its own by dispersing only its lower arms into two smaller swarms. It then started buzzing, and in response the swarms went after Boomer and Butch, surrounding them. The two boys were too distracted to help Brick or pick up more rubble, allowing the giant locust to attack Brick alone.

"Grr, you cheater!" Brick insulted the monster as he flew upwards out of its range. He shot his fire breath at its wings hoping to take away its ability to fly. He missed the wings, but the monster did pull back to dodge, giving Brick a brief moment to assess the situation. _That buzzing…_ Brick thought. _That must be how the swarm communicates! Maybe I can use that._ While contemplating his next move, he saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned to see the Powerpuff Girls watching the battle. _Have they been here this whole time?!_ With the Girls around, he came up with a plan to defeat the locust.

"Bubbles, use your sonic scream! Match it to the pitch of the insects' buzzing and disrupt their communication."

"Oh, great, he saw us!" Buttercup complained. "He even has the nerve to give us orders!"

"Huh, that's actually a decent plan…" Blossom mumbled.

Without saying anything, Bubbles followed Brick's command. She cleared her throat and let out a scream, tuning it to match the buzzing of the locusts. After a few seconds, the swarms of bugs surrounding Boomer and Butch scattered, and the giant locust dispersed into its swarm form. Apparently the bugs needed to communicate with each other to maintain their giant form. As the locusts flew around aimlessly with no idea what to do, Boomer and Butch quickly swatted all the bugs around them while Brick unleashed his fire breath on the ones in front of him, burning the entire swarm and defeating the monster.

Once the giant locust was down, the Rowdyruff Boys flew onto the roof to confront the Powerpuff Girls. Just like last time, Brick and Butch locked eyes with Blossom and Buttercup, while Boomer and Bubbles avoided eye contact. Boomer did, however, notice that Bubbles was wearing the bracelet he'd given her and allowed himself to smile a little.

Brick was the first one to break the silence. "Let me guess, your plan was to watch us and the monster duke it out, then attack whoever won while they were tired out, right?" he asked Blossom.

"Well, that, and try to make sense of it. Why were you even fighting that monster in the first place?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. We just needed to blow off some steam. You're welcome, by the way."

Blossom fumed. Buttercup interjected on her behalf, still disappointed that the Girls didn't get to fight. "Don't try that! You couldn't have beaten it without us! You tell 'em, Bubbles!"

"Umm, yeah…" the blue Powerpuff Girl mumbled.

"We woulda thought of something!" Butch retorted.

"Yeah, right!" Buttercup snarked. "Hey, Blossom, let's put that plan of yours into action!"

"No, Buttercup." Blossom sighed. "As much as I'd like to, they haven't done anything illegal. We can't arrest them just for being jerks." Blossom floated into the air and turned away.

"That's what I thought." Brick said. "Let's go home, 'jerks'!" With that he flew off. Buttercup stuck her tongue out at Butch and flew after Blossom, but not before Butch responded with an obscene gesture. Or at least it would've been obscene if he had fingers. Butch grumbled as he flew to join Brick, leaving Boomer and Bubbles alone.

Bubbles approached Boomer. "Hey, thanks for the bracelet." she said smiling and holding up her wrist. "It's beautiful."

"Uh, y-yeah, no problem." Boomer stammered. His heart was racing and he was sweating profusely. He knew this was his chance, but he also knew that their siblings were nearby. Ultimately, Boomer decided he couldn't take the risk right now. "I-I gotta go! See ya!" He then flew back to Mojo's lair. Bubbles' smile faded as she turned to rejoin her sisters.

*****

"Hey, what took you?" Blossom asked Bubbles as the latter caught up to the other Powerpuffs.

"I was just thanking Boomer for my present."

"Seriously?" Buttercup replied. "You are so weird." The Powerpuff Girls returned home and entered their bedroom through the windows. To their surprise, Professor Utonium was sitting there waiting for them in the same spot he was before they left.

"Ah, welcome back, Girls." the Professor began. "Now, about that little talk…"

*****

"Satisfied now?" Brick asked Butch sarcastically as the Boys returned to their room.

"It wasn't the same as fighting the Girls, but I think I'm good for now." Butch replied.

Boomer was the last one to enter the room. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…" Boomer mumbled as he smacked himself on the forehead.

"What's stupid?" Butch asked Boomer. "Besides you, that is."

"Uhh, the Powerpuff Girls, duh!" Boomer replied. Brick could sense something odder than usual about Boomer, but decided to leave it alone. He was too worn out from fighting and just wanted to relax a little.

"Well said, Captain Obvious." Butch taunted. "Let's get some lunch." As the Boys left for the kitchen, they were confronted by Mojo Jojo, who looked absolutely furious. "Oh, hey Mojo. We were just…"

"Do not even attempt it! I know that you have insulted me, renounced the purpose for your existence, and attacked and destroyed a monster attacking Townsville, thereby aiding the Powerpuff Girls in saving the day and preventing their possible destruction at the hands of said monster!"

"What are you talking about?" Brick feigned innocence. "We were just hanging around in our room."

"You will not feign ignorance this time! I, Mojo Jojo, planted a bugging device on your door, allowing me to listen in on your conversation and obtain the information I desired."

"You what?!" Brick was enraged by Mojo's admission. "In that case you can destroy the Powerpuff Girls and take over Townsville yourself! We're not gonna be your weapons anymore!"

"Yeah, we're sick of you!" Boomer backed up his red brother.

"Forget you, old man!" Butch agreed.

"If that is the that case, then gather your belongings and vacate them from the premises! If you will not aid me in my conquest for control of Townsville, then I am disowning you! You are no longer my sons! No more will I be claiming you as my dependents when filing my taxes!"

"Uh, what?" Boomer asked.

"GET OUT!"

*****

The Powerpuff Girls left the Professor's lab, still trying to process what their father had talked to them about. Forget monsters, forget Mojo Jojo, forget the Rowdyruff Boys, nothing compared to the ordeal they'd just faced.

"So embarrassing…" Bubbles grimaced as she fiddled with her bracelet.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Buttercup complained, placing her hand on her stomach.

"Let's never speak of this ever again! Ever!" Blossom led her sisters from the Professor's lab to their bedroom, hoping to find something to take her mind off of what just happened.

*****

Once the Rowdyruff Boys had finished packing and left Mojo Jojo's lair, the evil genius made his way to the living room and slumped onto the couch. He had a lot of thinking to do. With his three greatest weapons gone, he had to think of a new plan to destroy the Powerpuff Girls. Not to mention a contingency plan should the Boys come back for revenge. Mojo definitely had his work cut out for him this time.

In the middle of his brainstorming, he suddenly felt an ominous presence, followed by the appearance of a red haze. Mojo knew what this meant. It could only be the most diabolical, twisted and sadistic villain known to man. HIM! Sure enough, the dreaded one appeared before Mojo, taking a seat on a nearby chair.

"Hello, Mojo. Seems like things aren't going so well."

"What is your justification for having manifested in my place of dwelling at this particular point in time?"

"Well, lately I've been observing our boys…"

"My boys! If you recollected correctly, you would recall that I, Mojo Jojo, was awarded full custody of the Rowdyruff Boys that I had created for having been the one who originally created them." Indeed, the two villains had taken their paternity dispute to family court several years ago. The legal battle dragged on for months, but the judge ultimately ruled in Mojo's favor. "Though I suppose they are no longer my boys, seeing as how I have disowned them for their failure to eliminate the Powerpuff Girls."

"You did the right thing. Their behavior has been quite erratic lately, and if things are going the way I think they're going…" HIM's tone deepened. "We need to get aggressive in destroying the Powerpuff Girls."

"What do you think is happening with the Rowdyruff Boys?"

"Puberty."

Mojo's eyes widened at the horrific realization. "We really should have thought of that!"

"Oh, Mojo. Thinking ahead was never your strong suit."

"Or yours!" Mojo retorted, but quickly realized who he was talking to and changed the subject. "Did you have something in mind?"

HIM smiled deviously. "What would you say to a Beat-Alls reunion?"


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, the Rowdyruff Boys awoke in a motel room. Since packing their things and leaving Mojo Jojo's lair, they had to find somewhere to stay the night. Between the three of them they had enough cash for one night in a motel, but that was it. As happy as they were to be done with Mojo, they would have to figure out a more long-term solution to their homelessness. The boys began contemplating their options.

"So what do we do now?" Boomer asked Brick.

"Well, we have to find someone to move in with. We can't afford another night here."

"Who'd you have in mind?" Butch asked. "Do we go back to HIM?"

"No, we'd just run into the same problems as with Mojo."

"How 'bout Princess? She's loaded."

"Tempting, but again, same problems. We need to avoid other villains."

"The Powerpuff Girls?" Boomer suggested. His brothers each shot him a dirty look. "...Well you said to avoid villains." Brick and Butch disregarded his suggestion and went back to brainstorming.

"Let's just go to City Hall. Maybe the Mayor can help us out." Brick then touched his hand to his forehead. "Oh, wait, it's Sunday. City Hall's closed to the public."

Neither Boomer nor Butch could think of any other options. It looked like the Boys would have to spend a night on the streets. Butch decided he was okay with that and spoke up. "C'mon, we can handle one night outside. We're the Rowdyruff Boys."

"Yeah, we can handle it." Boomer agreed.

"Fine, but just for tonight." Brick relented. "In the meantime, let's do some training. I have an idea for a new technique." After that, the Boys packed their things and checked out, heading to the outskirts of Townsville for some practice.

*****

"This is the place, Carmichael." Princess Morbucks ordered her driver to stop near Mojo Jojo's lair. She exited the limousine and grabbed her jetpack and blasters from the trunk. While walking up to the volcano, she was joined by Fuzzy Lumpkins carrying his boomstick and a giant rock.

"Y'all here fer the reunion?"

"Of course I am, Einstein. Let's just hope Mojo doesn't blow it like last time." Years ago, four of Townsville's most notorious villains, Mojo Jojo, HIM, Princess Morbucks and Fuzzy Lumpkins discovered that as a team the Powerpuff Girls stood no chance against them. They banded together, called themselves the Beat-Alls, and nearly took over Townsville, but split up because of Mojo's girlfriend, who turned out to be some bimbo from Townsville Zoo in disguise. They never rejoined because HIM was against giving repeat performances. For the evilest of evil to break his policy, he must mean business this time. Why was that?

Whatever the reason, Princess was completely on board. She wanted nothing more than to be a Powerpuff Girl, but since the real Powerpuff Girls rejected her, she now sought revenge against them. If the other villains had a plan to destroy the Girls, she would gladly play her part.

The spoiled brat and the pink hillbilly entered Mojo's lair and headed to his laboratory. With the band back together, the Beat-Alls each took a seat at Mojo's planning table.

"Hey, where them boys o' yers at, Mojo?" Fuzzy inquired while caressing his shotgun.

"They are no longer my boys. They proved to be useless in accomplishing my goal to destroy the Powerpuff Girls, so I kicked them out."

"I say good riddance!" Princess exclaimed, remembering that the Rowdyruff Boys had rejected her attempt to join them, just like the Powerpuff Girls.

"Boy howdy!" Fuzzy agreed, recalling a time when the Boys beat him, tied him up and took over his property.

"Anyway, on to business." HIM spoke over his bandmates. "I've called you here because the time has come to destroy the Powerpuff Girls once and for all."

*****

"So what should we do today, Blossom?" Buttercup asked while lying on the floor of the Powerpuff Girls' bedroom, bored half to death.

"I dunno." Blossom slowly sat up from lying on the bed. She turned to her other sister, who was sitting in the corner staring at the ceiling. "What do you wanna do, Bubbles?"

"I dunno. What do you wanna do, Buttercup?"

"I dunno." To avoid trapping them in a loop, Buttercup changed the subject. "I still can't believe we had to talk about _that_ with the Professor."

"Maybe that was Boomer's evil plan all along." Bubbles teased Blossom.

"Could be…" Blossom was still lost in thought about Boomer's motives. Apparently the Professor thought Boomer was putting the moves on Bubbles by giving her that bracelet, so he gave them that talk to prepare them for dealing with boys. Had he forgotten that the Rowdyruff Boys were their sworn enemies? There's no way that was what Boomer had in mind.

On the other hand, they never confirmed why Boomer gave Bubbles that present. Was it possible that he'd fallen for her? Disgusting and outlandish as that was, Blossom couldn't honestly rule it out. She shuddered at the very thought of it, but even if he did like Bubbles, there was no way she liked him back. Was there? She did say Boomer was cute, although it was probably just Bubbles being Bubbles. Then again, she was quick to defend him from Blossom's suspicions, and she _really_ liked that bracelet.

Blossom needed reassurance. "Bubbles, why do really think Boomer gave you that present? Do you have any idea?" she calmly asked.

"What?! I don't know! Why would I even…?" Bubbles quickly turned to her other sister. "Hey, Buttercup, you wanna play Soul and Sword?"

"Heck yeah!"

The green and blue Powerpuff Girls sped down to the living room, leaving Blossom alone with her thoughts. _Oh, great! What are you hiding, Bubbles?_

*****

"What's this doodad for, again?" Fuzzy asked Princess as some of her servants hauled in a broken glass dome and suction tube.

"Do you guys remember Dick Hardly?" Princess asked the rest of the Beat-Alls. A cold silence fell over the group as they recalled that horrific chapter in Townsville's history. Even HIM shuddered at the mention of that name. "Yeah, I know…" Princess agreed with the group's sentiments. "Anyway, Daddy was the one who loaned him the money to start his business. When he was, shall we say, no longer able to make his payments, Daddy repossessed his factory. Well, what was left of it, anyway." Princess turned to the broken machine. "Apparently this thing was used to drain Chemical X from the Powerpuff Girls, but I've never been able to fix it. Think you can do it, Mojo?"

"Of course I am able to repair this piece of equipment. I will only require two hours and it will be up and running, ready to extract the Chemical X from the Powerpuff Girls and render them lifeless."

"See that you do." HIM ordered. "Once that's done, all we need is to ambush the Girls and drag them back here."

"And alls we needs fer that is some crime t' lure 'em outta hidin'." Fuzzy added.

As if on cue, Princess got a call on her cell phone from a number she didn't recognize. Without thinking, she answered it. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Hey, Princccesss, isss your refrigerator running?" a serpentine voice asked.

Princess sighed and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, really? Crank calls? You guys are pathetic! Who would even fall…" Princess realized something mid-sentence. "Actually, put Ace on the line."

Snake gave the phone over to his leader. "Yeah, whatcha got for me?" Ace answered.

"We'd like your gang's help in destroying the Powerpuff Girls."

*****

As the sun was setting, the Powerpuff Girls received a distress call. The Mayor said the Gangreen Gang were causing trouble at Malph's, shoplifting and harassing the customers and employees. The Girls took off and headed to Townsville's business district to take care of the petty criminals.

Blossom took point as usual, but still had a lot going through her head. The idea of Boomer liking Bubbles was gut-wrenching enough, but if Boomer had developed feelings for his Powerpuff counterpart, what about his brothers? She immediately pictured Brick asking her out and cringed. _No way! His goal in life is to destroy me. He'd never do that._ Blossom reassured herself. _But what if we weren't enemies? Would being with him really be so bad? After all, he is kinda…_ Blossom smacked herself in the face.

"You okay there, fearless leader?" Buttercup asked.

"Uh, yeah, just thinking about some stuff."

"I wonder what…" Bubbles teased.

"The Rowdyruff Boys again?" Buttercup speculated. "You're thinking way too hard about them. As long as they stay out of our hair, what's it matter what they do?"

"It never hurts to be prepared." Blossom argued.

"Eh, if I have to, I'll deal with them the usual way." Buttercup raised her fists and punched the air in front of her.

The Powerpuff Girls touched down in the parking lot of Malph's, where the Gangreen Gang had tipped over an old man's shopping cart and taken some food from it. "Not so fast, Gangreen Gang!" the Girls shouted in unison. The delinquent thugs turned to face them and laughed.

"Whatcha gonna do to us, Girls?" Ace taunted.

"You really wanna know?" Buttercup replied, slamming her fist into her palm.

"Point taken. Run!" Ace and his gang fled to a nearby alleyway, the Girls hot on their tail. Once they reached a dead end, the Powerpuff Girls prepared to attack.

"Any last words?!" Buttercup demanded.

"As a matter of fact, yeah!" Ace cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted upward. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da!"

"Huh? I don't get it." Bubbles stated.

In response to Ace's cue, Mojo Jojo, HIM and Princess Morbucks stood up on the rooftops and blasted the Girls simultaneously. As the Girls screamed in pain, Fuzzy Lumpkins emerged and dropped a giant rock on them, knocking them out cold. The Beat-Alls descended the fire escape to collect the Girls' unconscious bodies.

"Just like the old days." Princess said, reminiscing about the Beat-Alls' heyday.

"But this time we'll make sure to finish them off." HIM added, then turned to the Gangreen Gang. "Well done, boys!" The villains then took the unconscious superheroines back to Mojo's lair.

*****

After a few hours of training, the Rowdyruff Boys decided to call it quits. They hid their stuff in a cave outside Townsville, then flew to the Rite-On-Time diner, noticing that the Otto Time diner across the street was conspicuously empty. They'd managed to scrounge up enough cash for a meal, so they went to the counter and ordered.

"I don't get it. Why were we practicing all day if we're not fighting the Powerpuff Girls?" Boomer wondered.

"Gives us something to do, and we might need it if the other villains come after us." Brick answered. "Good thing that new combo attack works."

"Yeah, it's really cool!" Boomer exclaimed.

"Literally!" Butch added.

"Y'know, I'm surprised at you Butch." Brick said to his brother. "You haven't insisted we attack the Girls all day. What gives?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I still want to." Butch began. "But I know we need to solve this homelessness problem first."

"Hey, speaking of the Girls…" Boomer gestured towards the diner's TV. They'd interrupted the baseball game for an emergency report.

"This is Stanley Whitfield with a breaking news report. It appears there's been a Beat-Alls reunion tonight." The screen cut to a security tape. "Security camera footage from an alleyway near Malph's Grocery Store shows the long-defunct supervillain group ambushing and defeating the Powerpuff Girls. No one has seen our heroes since, and things are looking grim for our fair city…"

"Huh, they actually did it." Butch observed. He turned to his brothers to gauge their reactions. Brick sat there with a straight face while Boomer looked like he was fighting back something.

"Y'know, I'm not sure that cave is the safest place for our things." Brick said to Butch while handing over his cash. "You take care of the bill." With that Brick left the diner and flew off.

"Uh, I gotta go to the bathroom." Boomer excused himself. Butch just sat there continuing to watch the report.

*****

_This is total suicide. Why am I even doing this?!_ Brick thought. As much as his mind wanted to turn back, neither his body nor his heart would allow it. He had no choice but to approach Mojo Jojo's lair and formulate an attack plan. Taking on almost every villain in Townsville would be tricky, but at least he had the element of surprise. That would have to be enough.

While coming up with a plan, he saw a blue streak of light coming towards him. "Boomer?" he called out, and just as expected, his brother halted mid-flight and stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights. "Why am I not surprised to see you here?" Brick inquired rhetorically.

"Well, why are you here?"

"You want to know, huh?" Brick stalled trying to think of an excuse. "You really wanna know?!"

"Uh, yeah, I just said that."

"Well, I…" before Brick could answer, he and Boomer saw the third Rowdyruff Boy coming in fast. Butch stopped in front of his brothers.

"Oh, hey Brick… Boomer. Fancy meeting you here. I was just… going to… um… well… yeah…" When Butch finished stammering, an awkward silence loomed over the three boys. After about a minute, Brick was the first one to speak up.

"Well, we might as well do what we came here to do. Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

"Okay then. Form Crushing Cold Canine!"


	7. Chapter 7

"To victory!" Princess Morbucks shouted and raised her fist.

"To victory!" Fuzzy Lumpkins and the Gangreen Gang responded in kind. Mojo Jojo and HIM were working in the lab, operating the Chemical X-tractor and syphoning the source of the Powerpuff Girls' powers. The rest of the villains hung around in Mojo's foyer celebrating their triumph and awaiting the next phase of the plan. Once the Girls' Chemical X was extracted, the Beat-Alls would then attack the Rowdyruff Boys to ensure that no one in Townsville could stop them. Sure, the Boys weren't exactly heroes, but it never hurts to eliminate potential threats, or to have extra Chemical X at your disposal. And once the Boys were taken care of, Mojo would begin conquering the world. The other villains weren't interested in world domination and planned to leave Mojo alone in his endeavor, but with their enemies gone, they would have free reign over Townsville with endless opportunities for evil.

As the villains in the foyer discussed their future plans, they heard an ominous howl coming from outside. Suddenly, a giant wolf made of ice burst through one of the windows and trampled Snake, Grubber and Li'l Arturo. It then whacked Big Billy with its tail and slammed him into the wall. Then, wasting no time, it picked up Ace with its mouth, shook him around and tossed him into a pillar. Finished with the Gangreen Gang, it glared at Princess and snarled, getting ready to attack.

"Mojo, HIM, we've got a problem here!" Princess yelled. She took out her blasters and shot the icy wolf a few times, but to no avail. It simply shook off the laser blasts and ran towards Princess, knocked her aside with its paw and exhaled its frozen breath at her, encasing her in a block of ice. It then turned its attention to Fuzzy, who was standing in front of the door to the lab cocking his gun.

"Git offa Mojo's property!" Fuzzy took a few shots at the beast with just as much success as Princess. It reacted by charging at Fuzzy and ramming him straight through the lab-room door. Mojo Jojo turned around as his hillbilly friend was knocked unconscious right at his feet. The Crushing Cold Canine let out one last howl before separating into the Rowdyruff Boys. Mojo was especially ticked off to see them this time.

"The Rowdyruff Boys?! I was not expecting you to show up here just yet. Fortunately, the other evildoers and I have formulated a contingency plan for if you were to ever…" Mojo's rambling was cut short by Butch punching him in the face and knocking him out cold.

"You talk too much." Butch and his brothers then turned around to see the most horrible sight they'd ever seen. The Powerpuff Girls were stuck in a glass dome with a long black tube on top sucking out their Chemical X and transferring it to a vat next to the control panel Mojo was standing at. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were lying unconscious, their skin pale and covered in green splotches. It was clear they wouldn't last much longer if the Boys didn't help them.

"What do we do?!" Boomer panicked and turned to his red brother.

"We have to reverse that machine and give them back their Chemical X!" Brick advanced on the control panel when a red haze stopped him in his tracks. HIM then appeared between the Boys and the controls.

"Hello, boys. To what do I owe the pleasure?" HIM cordially inquired. "Must be your raging hormones."

"Don't presume to understand us!" Brick retorted. "Just get out of our way!"

"Well, aren't we pretentious today." HIM then floated into the air and began transforming. He grew to over twice his usual height and his arms, legs and torso became more muscular. His voice deepened as he addressed the Rowdyruff Boys. "But you're still just a bunch of useless brats!"

Boomer and Butch each flew at HIM and punched the villain, but he simply shrugged it off. Brick tried his laser eyes, but HIM countered with his own and overpowered Brick, knocking him back. He then grabbed Boomer with his claw and threw the blue Rowdyruff Boy against the wall, leaving Butch to deal with the king of darkness. Butch put up his forcefield to protect from the lasers, but HIM was one step ahead and pierced the shield with his other claw, allowing the evildoer to dispatch Butch just like the others.

"You fools! I only have to stall you for a few more minutes. The Powerpuff Girls are almost completely drained. There's no saving them now!"

Boomer opened his eyes and saw Bubbles' face through the dome. He started to tear up, knowing he could very well lose her if he didn't act soon. The boy's tears quickly turned to rage. He conjured his energy bat and flew straight at HIM, screaming in anger and swinging wildly. HIM was too slow to react and buckled under the sheer force of Boomer's repeated attacks. Before long HIM had taken multiple blows to the head, putting him in a daze. Boomer then floated aside, panting from over-exerting himself.

"Alright, Boomer!" Brick congratulated his brother. "Now stand back!" Brick inhaled deeply, then blasted a stream of fire at HIM, thrusting the evil one back into the wall and knocking him unconscious as he fell on top of Mojo and Fuzzy. Unfortunately, Brick's attack also set fire to the control panel and the vat of Chemical X. The pressure gauge on the controls went haywire and an alarm started sounding. Knowing just how volatile raw Chemical X can be, Brick's eyes widened and he started to panic. "Hurry! It's gonna blow!"

"Nice going, Brick!" Butch taunted.

"We don't have time for that! Save the girls!" Brick ordered. Boomer modified his bat into an axe and cut through the suction tube, then Brick and Butch punched the glass dome and shattered it. Each Rowdyruff Boy grabbed his Powerpuff counterpart and escaped by busting through the roof. Once outside, they turned to observe Mojo Jojo's lair. An explosion rang out from the laboratory, setting the lair on fire and causing part of it to fall into the lava beneath it. Then another explosion came from within the crater of the volcano, causing some of the support beams outside to collapse, which sent the entire structure tumbling down the side of the volcano.

"That's what you get!" Boomer shouted. His brothers beamed in agreement, then all three boys flew away.

*****

The Rowdyruff Boys flew to the top of a tall building nearby and set the Powerpuff Girls down gently. The Girls were still out cold and the Boys needed to figure out how to help them, if they even could. Brick's original plan was to reverse the Chemical X-tractor and revive them. But since that idea literally went up in flames, he'd have to think of something else.

"Are they dead?" Butch asked. In response, Brick touched his hand to Blossom's neck and put his ear to her chest. Good! She still had a pulse and her heart was still beating. Brick did the same for Bubbles and Buttercup and got the same result.

"No, they're still alive, but just barely."

"So how do we wake 'em up?" Butch asked.

_True love's kiss! True love's kiss! True love's kiss!_ Boomer chanted in his head.

"Well, without that machine, I'd say the only one who can help them is Professor Utonium. He must have plenty of Chemical X lying around." Brick stated. Boomer sighed in disappointment.

"That's gonna be an awkward conversation." Butch speculated.

"It's gonna be a nonexistent conversation." Brick replied. "We're just gonna drop the Girls off at his doorstep. Nobody can know we did this."

"What?! Why?" Boomer asked. Brick didn't answer.

"I agree." Butch said to Brick. "Let's go!" He picked up Buttercup and flew in the direction of the Professor's house. Brick picked up Blossom and did the same.

_Sorry, Bubbles. I guess we'll have to talk some other time._ Boomer thought as he cradled her in his arms, flying off to join his brothers.

After a couple minutes the Boys arrived at the Utonium house and hovered over the roof. Brick then issued a command to his brothers. "Alright, now lay the girls down in front of the door. I'll leave a note and ring the doorbell. You two split up. Wander around the city for an hour, then meet me at Fuzzy's cabin."

"Got it!" Butch replied as he and Boomer set down Buttercup and Bubbles, then sped off in two different directions. Brick set Blossom down and grabbed a scrap of paper from the recycle bin. He took out a pen and wrote a note for the Professor.

Not dead

Lost their Chemical X

Please resuscitate

He then rang the doorbell and quickly hid in the hedges. _Never thought I'd use my ding-dong ditch skills for good._ Brick thought to himself. A minute later, Professor Utonium opened the door, saw his daughters lying unconscious and gasped.

"Oh, no! Girls!" the Professor picked up the note and read it. "Whew! I'd better get you to the lab." He then carried the girls inside one by one. Brick breathed a sigh of relief from his hiding place. Once all of them were inside, he flew off.

*****

There had been some truth to Brick's excuse for leaving the diner. He didn't really trust that cave to hide the Boys' stuff. The first place he headed was to the outskirts of Townsville to retrieve his belongings. Fuzzy's place would be much better, and it's not like he was around to shoo them off his property anymore.

Brick touched down near the cave and went inside. It seemed his suspicions were warranted. A grizzly bear had wandered in and was poking at his suitcase. "Hey, ugly!" he shouted, and the bear lunged at him in response. One punch to the jaw made the bear regret its decision and back off, allowing Brick to grab his and his brothers' stuff and fly away.

Once Brick made it to Fuzzy's cabin, he set down the Boys' things and lit a fire in the fireplace. He had a lot on his mind, so he sat down and began gathering his thoughts. For the life of him, he still wasn't sure why he attacked the villains and rescued the Powerpuff Girls. That whole time it almost felt like he was in a trance, like he was watching himself from within his own body, unable to control or make sense of his actions. If he couldn't explain it to himself, how could he explain it to anyone else? Fortunately for him, the Girls were unconscious, the Professor didn't see him, and the villains were all caught in the explosion, leaving no witnesses. And any evidence he left would've gone up in smoke with Mojo's lair. It was the perfect coverup.

_Did I miss anything?_ Brick wondered. _I think I got everything._ He knew that if there were any evidence, Blossom would be quick to figure it out. She never missed anything. When they were younger, her intelligence and tactical thinking were always a thorn in Brick's side. He figured if they'd be butting heads their whole lives, he'd have to study and get smarter in order to stand a chance. Eventually he'd gotten good enough to keep up with her, but he also began to realize just how pointless their rivalry was. _I've been a fool. I wasted all that time fighting her, all for nothing. If I hadn't, maybe we could've been friends, or even… no, there's no use speculating. All that matters now is covering my tracks. No awkward interrogations, thank you._

Reassured of his safety, Brick took out his laptop and booted it up. Upon finding out Fuzzy didn't have internet, he instead took Butch's rubber ball and tossed it against the wall for an hour.

*****

The first place Butch went was back to the Rite-On-Time diner to take care of the food bill. He figured even a petty dine and dash would earn him a lecture from Brick. Of course, Butch's younger self wouldn't have thought twice about it, since committing crimes meant the Powerpuff Girls would come after him. How he missed indulging in his favorite pastime.

Once he arrived at the diner, he walked up to the cashier and handed her the money. "Sorry 'bout that. Had an emergency come up."

"Eh, no harm done." the cashier replied as she rang up the bill. Butch took his receipt and left, flying several blocks away before sitting down on a bench to continue his ponderings.

_I suppose it would've come to this sooner or later._ While Butch initially agreed with Brick's goal of destroying the Powerpuff Girls, he eventually came to realize that fighting them was what he lived for. The rush of battle, the chance to test his skills, the challenge of taking on the toughest fighters in the city, Butch loved everything about it. But how could he fight the Girls if they were dead? If someone else destroyed them, he'd have nothing to live for. That fact gave him no choice but to protect them from whoever sought their destruction. Ironically, that included his "fathers," who created him specifically to destroy the Girls.

While Butch had developed a degree of respect for all three Powerpuff Girls, Buttercup was the one he most loved to fight. She was easily the strongest of the three. Oh, how he yearned to go one-on-one with her some day, in a fair fight, without her and her sisters exploiting some dumb weakness the Boys didn't know about. How pathetic was it to explode just from a kiss on the cheek?

Butch recalled a time when Brick suggested they fight fire with fire. Years ago, the Boys committed some crime Butch couldn't remember, then when the Girls came to stop them, Brick ordered each boy to kiss his female counterpart, hoping it would make them explode. Unfortunately, all it did was confuse Blossom and enrage Buttercup. Bubbles even seemed to enjoy it. And of course, the Boys lost the battle because of Brick's miscalculation. _That's where your "clever" plans get you, Brick. Raw power is the way to go. I know you understand, Buttercup. You and I should talk about it sometime, preferably with our fists._

After sitting around lost in thought, Butch checked a nearby clock and saw that an hour had passed. Wasting no more time, he flew to Fuzzy's cabin to rejoin his brothers.

*****

_Stupid Brick! Stupid Butch! Why do we have to cover this up?!_ When Boomer left the diner, he imagined himself bursting into Mojo's lair just in time to save Bubbles. She would swoon over her knight in shining armor as he valiantly fought off every bad guy in Townsville all on his own. And once all of them had been vanquished, he'd take her hand, carry her away and confess his love to her. Things didn't play out exactly as he'd hoped, but at least she and her sisters were safe now.

Of course, he still desperately wanted to tell Bubbles how he felt. He'd missed two chances in the past three days, and that was after months of not even seeing her. And now Brick and Butch wanted to cover up their rescue. Would Boomer ever get to talk to her? At this point it didn't seem like he ever would. He felt his eyes starting to water, but immediately shook it off. Instead of crying, he resolved to confess his feelings to Bubbles the next time he saw her, no matter what. If their siblings were around, so be it. They'd just have to accept that he loved her.

In his wandering he passed by Bruna's, but noticed that it just closed. Made sense though. What jewelry store would be open this late on a Sunday, anyway? Especially in Townsville. After a minute, the owner exited the store and locked the door. He turned around to see Boomer standing there.

"Oh, hey kid. Did your girlfriend like the bracelet?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Ah! Well, hang in there. She'll come around."

"I hope so. I just wish I could've gotten something better." Boomer unfortunately didn't have much to spend on Bubbles' present. The best he could afford was cheap turquoise, but she deserved so much more. He was tempted to just steal that expensive gold necklace with the huge sapphire in it, but he knew Bubbles would never accept a stolen gift.

"It's the thought that counts. Anyway, I'd better get going before any robbers show up."

"Ok. See ya." Boomer and the store owner parted ways. As if on cue, Boomer heard a noise and turned back to see two crooks in ski masks attempt to break in. He was feeling heroic today, so he zapped them with his laser eyes and beat them unconscious before they could get in. He then turned them over to a nearby cop and continued on his way.

After about half an hour, Boomer wandered onto the Rowdyruff Boys' favorite freeway overpass. He remembered how he and his brothers used to rain spit, snot and other bodily fluids onto the cars below, but it seemed those days were behind them now. He looked over the side and saw a sign that read 'Farmsville - 4 miles'. Boomer stared at it and smiled, thinking back six months ago to the best day of his life.


	8. Chapter 8

_So far, so good._ Boomer assured himself as he arrived at the Pokey Oaks County Fair in Farmsville wearing a fedora and a fake moustache. His brothers were back in Townsville doing graffiti or whatever, but he had something else planned today. He wanted to see the horse show they held at the fair every year. For a long time Boomer had secretly liked horses, but could never let his brothers know about such a "girly" interest. They'd never let him hear the end of it. Fortunately he was in a completely different city where no one would know him. On top of that, his disguise was fool-proof. There was no way anything could go wrong.

"Boomer?" a familiar voice called out to him from behind. The Rowdyruff Boy turned to see his nemesis, Bubbles, staring at him with a perplexed look on her face. Of all people, why did it have to be her?! If he had to deal with her, then the whole day would be ruined. Luckily she wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, and he was still in disguise. Maybe he could trick her and salvage his plans.

"Ah, no! My name is Boris Borisson!" he answered, faking a Russian accent. "Please to be leaving me alone now, little girl."

Bubbles giggled at his voice. "Твой акцент ужасен." Whatever she just said, it was clear to Boomer that he wasn't fooling anyone. He gave up and removed his hat and moustache.

"Okay, you got me! Now what? You gonna fight me?!" Boomer put up his fists expecting an attack.

"Do we have to? I kinda wanted to see the ponies…"

"Horses! There's a difference!" Boomer corrected her, then slapped himself in the face.

"Is that why you're here, too?" she asked with a strange excitement in her voice. Boomer thought for a moment. He'd been wanting to go to this thing for weeks, and he might never have another chance. On the other hand, he could fight Bubbles pretty much any time he wanted. He decided he could tolerate her existence for one day if it meant seeing the horse show.

"Yeah…" Boomer admitted. "If you tell anyone, you're dead!"

"Well, that explains the disguise. Okay, I won't tell." With that the two of them headed to the bleachers and took their seats. Boomer sat down first and Bubbles took the seat next to him.

"Uh, why are you sitting next to me?"

"Um, well… you're a bad guy. I have to make sure you don't do anything evil." Great. Not only did she know his secret, but apparently she was gonna be following him around all day. Could things get much worse?

Before too long the show began with the competitors riding out to display their horses. The crowd favorite was a grey Arabian named Saladin, Boomer included. Bubbles, on the other hand, rooted for a leopard-spotted Appaloosa named Sagittarius.

"Arabians are the best." Boomer stated.

"Never thought you'd have a favorite breed." Bubbles replied. "I like Appaloosas. Their spots are pretty."

"Yeah, I guess they're alright." he answered, then realized he was having a friendly conversation with his mortal enemy. Then again, he could never talk about this stuff with Brick and Butch. If he was stuck with Bubbles all day, he might as well make the most of it. "What do you think of Clydesdales?"

"Love 'em."

"You've got good taste." Boomer turned his head and sighed. "Man, if my brothers caught me here they'd just laugh at me."

"They're total jerks! I know they're villains, but they should at least be nice to you." Bubbles recalled a day long ago when the Powerpuff Girls captured Boomer. Bubbles then stole his clothes and disguised herself as him in an attempt to capture Brick and Butch too. She got to experience first-hand just how they treated Boomer. "Being around them all day was the worst." That day wasn't a pleasant memory for Boomer either, so he decided to change the subject.

"Hey, where are your sisters, by the way?"

Bubbles sighed. "Blossom said she had more important things to do and Buttercup said this was lame. They make me so mad sometimes." Boomer was genuinely surprised. He always thought the Powerpuff Girls got along perfectly. Who knew Bubbles fought with her siblings, too?

"If it makes you feel better, they make me mad all the time." he joked. Bubbles rolled her eyes, but also smiled a little. The two of them watched as the show continued to the jumping competition. To no one's surprise, Saladin performed wonderfully, though Sagittarius gave him a run for his money. Unfortunately there was an incident when Bellerophon bucked his rider off after a jump. It startled Bubbles and she grabbed on to Boomer's arm without thinking. Boomer gave her a quizzical look and she let go.

"Sorry!" she turned away from him to hide her face. Boomer expected himself to be annoyed at her, but for some reason he wasn't. He just shrugged and continued watching.

The show ended with Saladin winning the blue ribbon, Always Comes in Second winning the red, and Sagittarius winning the yellow. "Told you Arabians were the best." Boomer gloated to Bubbles as they exited the arena. The two of them walked around the fairgrounds looking for something to do when they passed by a stage. A jug player was playing an old folk song from a foreign land. Bubbles' eyes lit up and she turned to Boomer.

"Hey, Boomer, you wanna dance?" Bubbles asked.

"What?! Are you serious?!"

"C'mon, you'll like this one." She dragged him over to the crowd while he groaned. She began by shaking her legs and slapping both of Boomer's hands. "That's my horse!"

"Uh, that's my horse?" Boomer slapped her hands back.

"No, that's my horse!" Bubbles jabbed Boomer in the chest. He was mad for a second, but then caught on and started shaking his legs too.

"That's my horse!" Boomer kicked Bubbles in the shin.

"That's my horse!" Bubbles grabbed a frying pan and smacked Boomer in the face with it.

"That's my horse!" Boomer took a wooden fence post and broke it over Bubbles' head. Their "dance" continued escalating after that. He electrocuted her with a stun gun, so she blasted him with a flamethrower. She shot him point blank with a cannon, so he rammed her with a tractor. Fortunately for Boomer, the song ended just as Bubbles was coming at him with a pineapple. He looked at her for a brief moment, then burst out laughing. Bubbles quickly followed suit.

The blue super-children had gotten hungry and stopped at a burger stand. Bubbles was first to order. "One veggie burger, please."

"Veggie burger?" Boomer asked his nemesis.

"Vegetarian, duh!"

"Your loss." Boomer turned to the cashier. "Bacon cheeseburger, side of onion rings." Bubbles rolled her eyes, then the two of them sat on the curb and awaited their orders. "Where'd you learn that dance?"

"Saw it on TV. Did you like it?"

"Actually, yeah."

"Order up for Bubbles." the cashier announced. Seconds later, he made another announcement. "Order up for Boris." Bubbles and Boomer picked up their food.

"Boris again?"

"Can't be too careful." They took their food to a nearby picnic table and sat across from each other. Boomer wasted no time digging into his burger, but for some reason Bubbles didn't start eating right away. Boomer looked up to see her staring at him and smiling. "Uh, what is it?"

"Oh, um… you…" Bubbles took a bite of her burger. Once she stopped chewing she finished her sentence. "...got some ketchup on your chin." Boomer wiped his chin and felt nothing there. What was with her? She'd been acting kinda weird all day. Granted, Bubbles was always an oddball, but even by her standards her behavior was strange. Boomer decided it didn't matter. He'd eventually destroy her anyway.

Once they finished eating they got up and threw their trash away. Before they could decide what to do next, Bubbles' phone started to ring. She picked it up and answered. "What is it, Mayor? Ok, I'll be right there." she pocketed her phone and turned to Boomer. "I gotta go. Fuzzy's on a rampage again." She smiled at him. "Today was really fun."

"Yeah, it was alright." Boomer half-heartedly agreed. "I guess I'll see you next time Brick starts something."

Bubbles' smile faded and her lips started trembling. All of a sudden she flew straight at Boomer and hugged him tightly. His eyes widened and he froze up, completely at a loss as to how to react to it.

"Why do we have to be enemies, Boomer?" She sounded like she was fighting back tears. Boomer stammered trying to figure out how to respond, but before he could say anything Bubbles let him go and covered her face. "S-Sorry. I-I gotta stop Fuzzy." With that she flew away. Boomer stood there for a few minutes trying to process what just happened, but decided to leave it alone for now. He wandered around the fair for about half an hour before getting bored and heading back to Townsville.

*****

Just as Boomer thought, a fight between the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys broke out a week after the fair. Brick, Boomer and Butch ambushed the Girls right as they were dealing with a routine robbery at National Trust Bank.

Brick started as usual with a fire blast, and Blossom countered as usual with her ice breath. As the team leaders' breath weapons pushed back against each other, Butch tackled Buttercup and the two of them wailed on each other. Boomer decided to help Brick out by shooting Blossom with his blue laser, allowing the Rowdyruff Boys' leader to overpower her. Brick swooped in to kick Blossom while she was down when Bubbles stopped him mid-air with a sonic scream. As he covered his ears and clenched his teeth in agony, Butch knocked Buttercup aside and snuck up on Bubbles. He grabbed the blue Powerpuff Girl by her leg, spun her around a few times and tossed her through the wall and into the bank.

"Boomer, go after her!" Brick ordered. Boomer followed his brother's command and flew through the hole in the wall. He touched down next to Bubbles, who was lying prone on the floor, then raised his fist and prepared to strike.

Suddenly, he looked into Bubbles' eyes and froze up. He must've been in this situation countless times before, but this time he couldn't do it. And apparently Bubbles couldn't either. Rather than get up and fight, she just looked back at him with her beautiful blue eyes. After a few seconds of staring each other down, Boomer lowered his fist and hung his head.

"Boomer?" Bubbles whispered. Boomer didn't answer and simply turned and flew away. Brick noticed him leaving and fumed.

"Hey, get back here you coward!" the red Rowdyruff Boy yelled, but Boomer ignored him and went home, leaving his brothers behind.

*****

Boomer sat on his bed in a fetal position, thinking back to the battle. Why couldn't he attack her? He and Bubbles had been fighting their whole lives, but when he looked into her eyes he just couldn't bring himself to do it anymore. Why now? What could've changed?

Who was he kidding? This was all because of that day at the fair. Up until then Boomer had led a pretty sad life. He never had any friends, and he was always pushed around by his brothers and by Mojo Jojo. On top of that, he was locked in a seemingly endless feud with the Powerpuff Girls, and usually lost to them, too. As far back as he could remember, Bubbles was the only one who ever showed him genuine kindness. Who would've guessed she would be the one person who brought him any happiness in life? Spending that day with her was the best thing that ever happened to him, and now he wanted nothing more than to be by her side. But how could he make that happen? There was no way Mojo or his brothers would allow him to date a Powerpuff Girl.

In the middle of Boomer's contemplation, Brick and Butch entered the bedroom. Both boys were covered in bruises and breathing heavily with exhaustion. Apparently the battle didn't go so well for them once Boomer retreated.

"You traitor!" Brick berated Boomer. "Why'd you run away?! Have you forgotten our purpose in life is to defeat those girls?!"

"Our purpose, huh?" Boomer mumbled, reminded of the tragic irony of his situation.

"What?!"

"Why do we have to fight them? What do we get out of it?"

Brick paused for a moment, but before he could give an answer, Butch interjected. "It's fun! What more reason do you need?"

"...Yeah, what Butch said." Brick agreed.

"If you say so." Boomer half-heartedly replied. "I'm going to bed. Looks like you guys could use some rest, too." His brothers both grumbled at him. Normally they'd probably beat him up for that, but they were too badly injured and simply didn't have the energy. All three boys got ready for bed and turned out the lights.

*****

Once Boomer was finished reminiscing, he noticed it was time to meet up with Brick and Butch and flew to Fuzzy's cabin. He arrived to find that his brothers were already there. The Rowdyruff Boys sat down and began discussing what they'd done.

"Alright. Like I said, no one can know we did this." Brick began. "I've thought it over and I know we didn't leave any witnesses. As long as we lay low and deny everything we should be fine. Did anyone see you two?"

Boomer trembled at Brick's question, but Butch answered first. "Yeah, the cashier at the diner." he reluctantly admitted.

"Good. If they saw you alone that'll help our alibi. What about you, Boomer?"

"Y-Yeah, someone saw me."

"Excellent. Now this should go without saying, but let's agree to keep our reasons to ourselves. The less awkward questions the better."

"Agreed!" Butch chimed in.

Boomer hadn't even thought about that. Why did his brothers save the Girls? Had they fallen for their Powerpuff counterparts too? Assuming they had, if he could get them to admit that, maybe they'd be okay with his feelings for Bubbles. Boomer tried to steer the conversation in that direction, despite what Brick just said.

"Hey, what do you think HIM meant by our raging…?"

"Forget what HIM said!" Brick interjected. "He's gone now. They all are."

"You sure?" Butch asked. "This is HIM we're talking about."

"He was right in the middle of a Chemical X explosion. That stuff's powerful! I think we know that better than anyone." Despite Brick's confidence, Butch and Boomer were unconvinced. "Fine, we'll check for survivors in the morning. It'd be too suspicious if we go back right now."

"Alright. I'm gonna get some sleep." Butch unpacked his sleeping bag and rolled it out. None of the boys wanted Fuzzy's bed due to it being covered in pink fur. Brick was still a little hungry and went to see what Fuzzy had in the kitchen.

"What's there to eat?" Boomer asked.

"Meat. Lots of meat." Brick answered while munching on some beef jerky.

"Never mind, I'm good." Boomer got into his sleeping bag. Deciding not to press his brothers anymore tonight, he nodded off.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ow, my head…" Blossom awoke with a terrible headache. She was surprised to see that she had awoken in her bed next to her sisters. The last thing she remembered was cornering the Gangreen Gang in an alley, only to get ambushed by the Beat-Alls. Who brought her and her sisters back home, and why would they be unconscious all night? Last time, a Beat-Alls attack only put them out for about half an hour. She decided to wake her sisters to see if they remembered anything, starting with Bubbles.

"Bubbles, you awake?" Blossom asked as she gently shook her sister.

"Mmm, I am now. What happened?"

"I have no idea." Blossom turned to her other sister. "Hey, Buttercup."

"What?!" the green Powerpuff Girl groaned as she slowly regained consciousness.

"Do you remember anything from last night?"

"No. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Sure, fine." Blossom got out of bed and floated to the bathroom, hoping a shower might do something for her headache. On her way she crossed paths with the Professor, who had a strange look of relief on his face.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!" he exclaimed as he embraced his daughter. "I was so scared. I thought I might've lost you girls."

"Wait, what?" Blossom asked weakly as she pulled away from the Professor.

"Well, you were attacked by the Beat-Alls and…" the Professor noticed Blossom rubbing her forehead. He gestured towards the bathroom Blossom was headed to. "Go ahead. I'll talk to you and your sisters downstairs when you're ready."

"Thanks, Professor. I'll let them know." With that Blossom continued to the shower.

*****

Professor Utonium finished making breakfast for him and his daughters. To celebrate their safe return, he made each of them their favorites. A Spanish omelette for Blossom, blueberry waffles for Bubbles and French toast and bacon for Buttercup and himself. While he didn't mind cooking, a part of him missed the old days when he could simply pour them each a bowl of Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets. His girls definitely weren't little kids anymore. Heck, as of last Friday they were officially teenagers, and would be going into 7th grade once school started up next month. The thought of missing them growing up terrified him more than anything in the world. The events of last night were a grim reminder of that.

"Morning, Professor!" the Powerpuff Girls each greeted their father as they took their seats. Seeing their favorite breakfast foods on their plates, they wasted no time digging in. Part way through their meal, Blossom remembered what the Professor told her upstairs.

"So, what happened last night?"

"Well, after you'd been taken by the Beat-Alls, someone brought you back here. You were unconscious and you lost most of your Chemical X. So I restored your powers, then I carried you all to your bed. Are you girls feeling okay now?"

"I am. Thanks, Professor." Bubbles said through a mouthful of waffles.

"That explains the headache." Buttercup groaned.

"Who brought us back?" Blossom asked.

"I don't know. Whoever it was just dropped you off at the front door and vanished." the Professor pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket. "All they left was this note."

"Let me see that." Blossom took the note and pored over it. She couldn't quite put her nonexistent finger on it, but she knew she'd seen this handwriting before. Then there was the question of who would save the Powerpuff Girls from the Beat-Alls and not want anyone to know. On top of that, who in Townsville even stood a chance against the Beat-Alls, anyway? In the middle of Blossom's pondering, the phone rang and the Professor answered it.

"Hello? Oh, hi Ms. Bellum. Yeah. Yeah, they're here with me. I'll put you on speaker." The Professor set the phone in the middle of the breakfast table.

"Girls! Thank goodness you're alright!" Ms. Bellum exclaimed over the phone.

"Yeah, we're fine." Bubbles responded.

"Why so worried?" Buttercup asked.

"There was an explosion at Mojo's lair last night. The whole thing's been completely destroyed." The Utonium family gasped in unison. "I thought you might've been caught in it."

"No, somebody saved us." Blossom told Ms. Bellum. "We don't know who it was, though. We were unconscious the whole time."

"I'm afraid I can't help you there, but police and rescue workers are on the scene right now. Hopefully we'll have some answers soon."

"We're coming to investigate! Thanks, Ms. Bellum." Blossom hung up. "Professor, can you hold on to this note? It's the only clue we have right now."

"Alright, I will. See you soon, girls." Once the Powerpuff Girls finished eating, they flew off.

*****

The Powerpuff Girls touched down at the ruins of Mojo Jojo's lair. Apparently the structure had caught fire and tumbled down the volcano onto the ground below. Firefighters had doused the fire and rescue workers were digging through the smoldering wreckage for survivors, but things looked grim for anyone inside. Despite being mortal enemies, the Girls felt a twinge of worry that Mojo and the other villains might not have made it.

The Chief of Police was surveying the scene when the Girls walked up to him. "Ah, good to see you, Powerpuff Girls. We've been at this all night. According to the arson investigator, the cause of the wreckage was a Chemical X explosion that came from the laboratory."

"Where'd Mojo get Chemical X from?" Buttercup asked.

"I think he might've drained it from us while we were unconscious. That'd explain why the Professor had to restore us." The other two Powerpuffs shuddered at Blossom's theory.

"So this wasn't you?" the Chief asked, gesturing to the wreckage.

"No, apparently someone else came in and saved us. Whoever that was also must've blown up Mojo's lair." Blossom answered.

"Hey, we got a live one!" a rescue worker called out to the chief. He and the Powerpuff Girls ran up to see two workers carrying Princess Morbucks out from under the rubble. She was covered in cuts and bruises, her left leg was broken, and for some reason she couldn't stop shivering. The Girls approached Princess hoping to gain some information.

"W-w-what are you d-d-doing here?!" Princess struggled to speak. "W-w-why are you s-s-still alive?"

"Yeah, we wanted to ask you about that." Buttercup replied. "Tell the truth and we might go easy on you."

"What happened to you, Princess?" Bubbles asked.

"An icy w-w-wolf attacked us. F-f-froze me s-s-solid."

"A wolf? That's the oldest one in the book." Buttercup said.

"I think she's telling the truth, Buttercup." Blossom stated. "Princess, where are the others?"

"P-p-probably under th-th-the rubble. C-c-can I g-g-go to the h-h-hospital now?"

"Okay. Get well soon." Blossom realized Princess was in no condition for an interrogation at the moment. The Powerpuff Girls' leader gestured for the rescue workers to come over. They put Princess on a gurney and moved her to an ambulance, then the ambulance drove off.

"Get well soon?" Buttercup asked Blossom.

"Superheroes don't wish death on their enemies, remember. Speaking of which, we'd better see if anyone else survived." Blossom and her sisters then started digging through the rubble.

*****

The Rowdyruff Boys observed the wreckage of Mojo's lair from the sky above. They arrived just in time to see an ambulance leave the scene. Brick used his X-ray vision to peek inside and saw that Princess had lived through the explosion, albeit barely. He contemplated how he should deal with her, or if he even needed to, when he and his brothers turned to see three other potential problems trying to dig out other survivors.

"Aw, man! The Girls are already here. What do we do?" Butch asked Brick.

"Maybe we should've come earlier. Just keep your distance for now." he ordered, then gestured to the ambulance. "Also, it looks like Princess is still alive."

"Uh-oh! That's a problem!"

"Well, maybe not. All she saw was the Crushing Cold Canine, which we'll never use again, by the way." Butch and Boomer groaned in disappointment at Brick's decree. "Well, we can't risk anyone finding out."

"So what do we do about the Girls?" Butch asked.

"Nothing. All we can do now is retreat and hope nobody else survived." Despite what Brick said, Boomer descended upon the rubble and was about to land near the Powerpuff Girls. "That idiot!" Brick and Butch had no choice but to go after him, lest he say something stupid and blow the whole cover-up. The red and green Rowdyruff Boys descended after their brother.

Once Boomer touched down, the Powerpuff Girls turned to look at him. Buttercup shot him a death-glare and Bubbles avoided eye contact as usual, but Blossom's usual scowl was replaced by a quizzical look on her face. Boomer didn't care, though. He made himself a promise last night, and now he was gonna fulfill it.

"Hey, I just wanted to…"

"Whoa! You girls really went overboard this time!" Brick yelled as he landed, cutting off his brother.

"Yeah, you didn't have to blow the whole place up. What'd Mojo do to you this time?" Butch caught on to where Brick was going and played along.

"None of your business, and we didn't blow up the lair!" Buttercup shouted back. "What are you even doing here?"

"Well, I…" Boomer began.

"We live here, stupid!" Brick said to Buttercup, once again cutting Boomer off. Boomer grumbled and shot his brother a dirty look.

"Yet you weren't here when it happened..." Blossom began. "And you don't seem particularly upset about your home being destroyed."

"Uh, what are you getting at?" Brick replied.

"Where were you three last night?"

"Wouldn't you like to…" All of a sudden, a red tentacle wrapped itself around Brick, electrocuted him and started draining his powers. He fell to his knees and screamed in pain. The cops and firefighters all fled the scene in terror. The other super-children looked up to the top of the volcano where the tentacle was coming from.

Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Boomer and Butch looked upon a horrific monstrosity. It was at least 25 feet tall, sported Mojo Jojo's gigantic brain, Fuzzy Lumpkins' antennae, and HIM's pointed ears and goatee, and wore a long fiery cape with a red jacket and black belt. The tentacle that entangled Brick was coming from its right claw. Apparently the Chemical X explosion had fused Mojo, HIM and Fuzzy together. "You worthless failure!" it yelled at Brick as it drained his Chemical X. "It's about time I punished your insolence!"

"Let him go, you… you abomination!" Blossom yelled.

"Oh, you're so hurtful." it replied sarcastically. "Don't worry, I won't kill him. I have a more… creative punishment in mind." With that it began waving its left claw.

Without even thinking Blossom dashed over to save Brick. "No, don't…" he said weakly, but Blossom didn't listen. She grabbed onto the tentacle in hopes of freeing Brick from its grasp, but as soon as she touched it, it began draining her powers too. When she tried to pull away, she found that her hands were stuck and she couldn't let go. As she screamed alongside Brick, the Abomination pointed its left claw at them, which opened a dark portal beneath them. It began sucking them in along with everything nearby. Powerless to fly away or fight back, Blossom and Brick both disappeared into the void. The Abomination then closed the portal.

Bubbles teared up at her sister's disappearance, while Buttercup screamed at the Abomination and blasted her laser eyes at it. Boomer and Butch also shot lasers at it hoping to avenge Brick, but their attacks simply bounced off their enemy. It slowly emerged from the volcano, completely unfazed by Buttercup and the Boys' attacks. Buttercup then flew directly at its face but was swatted aside by its claw. She crashed to the ground in front of Bubbles.

"You really think you can defy me?" the Abomination taunted. "Without your leaders, you're hopeless!" It then extended its tentacle at Buttercup, but Bubbles pulled her out of the way and flew back. Boomer and Butch then advanced on the Abomination.

"Die, you freak!" Butch shot his laser at the Abomination once again. Boomer then combined his laser with Butch's. The Abomination remained unfazed and whipped its tentacle at the Boys, forcing them to dodge it. Then it shot a powerful laser from its mouth, hitting the Boys and knocking them out of the air. Growing tired of this "battle", the Abomination retracted its tentacle and reopened its claw to reveal a pink four-fingered hand.

"You know the interesting thing about Chemical X? When it explodes, it gets everywhere." It then snapped its fingers. Soon after, a supersonic belch came from beneath the rubble, clearing it away to reveal the Gangreen Gang. Ace's skin had turned light blue and Big Billy had turned into a rock. Wanting to test their powers, Snake stretched his arms to three times their usual length and Lil' Arturo did ten laps around the rubble in 0.2 seconds. It seemed they'd benefited from the explosion, too.

"Oh, yeah! The Super Gangreen Gang is back!" Ace then turned to see the one who revived him and his gang. "Whoa! What happened?"

"We've been empowered by Chemical X! Now destroy them!" the Abomination pointed to the remaining Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys. The Super Gangreen Gang then turned to the four super-children and grinned maliciously.

Buttercup stared at the villains and assessed the situation. With Blossom gone, she was now the leader of the remaining Powerpuff Girls, and being the leader meant she'd have to make a tough decision. She could see that her and Bubbles were completely outnumbered, and one false move meant the Abomination could steal their powers and they'd suffer the same fate as their sister. There was only one rational move Buttercup could make.

"Bubbles, fall back!"

"What?! But you never…"

"I said fall back!" Buttercup and Bubbles then retreated to the outskirts of Townsville. Boomer and Butch looked at each other and agreed to follow them. With all of their enemies defeated, the Abomination and the Gangreen Gang laughed maniacally.

*****

Partway through her ride to the hospital, Princess suddenly stopped shivering. Not only that, but her cuts and bruises faded away, and her leg didn't hurt anymore. Her hypothermia and immense pain were replaced by a sensation she hadn't felt since Christmas eight years ago. Hoping this meant what she thought it meant, she tried lifting herself off the gurney and into the air, and sure enough, she succeeded.

"What the heck?!" the paramedic shouted, taken aback by the sight of his patient suddenly floating.

"Yes!" Princess cheered. "Cancel the hospital visit, doc! I have to introduce Townsville to its newest Powerpuff Girl!" With that, she flew out the back of the ambulance and back to the ruins of Mojo's lair, knowing that the Powerpuff Girls could deny her no longer.

As she arrived at the volcano, she stopped mid-flight when she saw a monster that looked like a grotesque fusion of her bandmates. She also saw the Gangreen Gang, except that Ace had turned blue, Big Billy was a rock, and Snake had stretched to over twice his usual height. The monster had just summoned three other monsters from Monster Isle using some kind of dark portal.

"Destroy this city and everything in it!" it ordered, and the monsters moved into Townsville to carry out the command. The monster then turned to the Gangreen Gang. "Now, boys, let's go take over the world!" Before they left the city, the villains ran into Princess hovering in front of them.

"Did I… miss something?" she asked.

"Oh, right. You were in the explosion too, weren't you? How do you like your new Chemical X powers?"

"Uh, they're great, but… what happened here? Where are the Powerpuff Girls?"

"Don't you worry. Neither they nor the Rowdyruff Boys will trouble us any longer. Not without their precious leaders, anyway."

"Ooh, what'd you do to them?"

*****

Blossom awoke to find herself on a beach. She tried to fly up for a bird's eye view, but found herself unable to. _Right, that thing zapped my powers. Now what do I do?_ She took out her phone and tried calling for help, only to find that its circuitry had been fried by the Abomination's attack. _Obviously._ Blossom thought as she tossed it on the ground. Taking a look around, she saw Brick lying unconscious nearby. It seemed she had no choice but to wake him up. Blossom walked over to him, hoping she wouldn't have to give him mouth-to-mouth.

"Hey, get up!" she tried shaking Brick awake. Fortunately for Blossom, he awoke immediately.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up!" He then picked himself up off the sand. Ignoring Blossom, he tried flying away but couldn't achieve liftoff.

"I tried that." Blossom told him. "Looks like that Abomination took our powers."

"You don't say." Brick turned around to see that he and Blossom had been trapped on an island. There was no sign of civilization anywhere and nothing but ocean on the horizon. At least there was vegetation and a spring for fresh water. They'd survive, but they'd be castaways, powerless to escape their isolation. "So this is my 'creative' punishment, huh?"

"For what? What'd you do to tick Mojo, HIM and Fuzzy off?"

"None of your business." He gestured towards the vegetation. "Now help me build a shelter." He then moved into the trees to collect sticks and palm fronds.

Blossom clenched her teeth at Brick's rudeness and at the whole idea of being trapped on this island with him. But on the bright side, she'd finally figured things out. Brick's evasiveness and unknown whereabouts last night, the Abomination wanting to punish him, the familiar handwriting on that note, it all added up. It was the Rowdyruff Boys who saved the Powerpuff Girls last night, no doubt about it. But why, though? And how could Blossom get Brick to admit it?

She decided that, for now, she'd have to leave it alone. Like it or not, she and Brick would have to make nice in order to survive, and starting an interrogation would be counterproductive. She begrudgingly followed him and helped him gather materials for their shelter.

*****

"Oh, Blossom." Bubbles cried against the side of the mountain she and Buttercup had fled to. Not only had they lost their sister, but they'd been forced to retreat, something Buttercup never thought she'd do.

"This can't be happening!" Buttercup yelled. "Is this what we've been reduced to? Hiding on top of a mountain while that Abomination takes over the city?" She began to feel like she'd failed everyone. Bubbles, Townsville, and above all, herself. She was supposed to be the tough one, brave and strong enough to take on any foe and win. On top of that, the mantle of leadership had fallen on her. She should've led Bubbles to victory, but instead ordered a retreat. She was a failure as a fighter and as a leader. Buttercup was on the verge of crying herself, but before she could, the remaining Rowdyruff Boys touched down in front of her. Boomer stayed back while Butch approached Buttercup.

"Hey…" Butch began.

"Hey what? Come to laugh at Townsville's fallen heroes?"

"Tempting, but no." He breathed heavily. "That Abomination took our brother and it'll probably come after us, too. If we're gonna beat that thing and get Brick back, we need your help. I never thought I'd do this, but…" Butch extended his hand. "Temporary truce?"

Butch's offer felt strangely uplifting for Buttercup. Something about the Rowdyruff Boys asking her for help gave her just the confidence she needed to snap out of her funk. "Alright, temporary truce!" She shook Butch's hand, then smirked at him. "Just as long as you agree that I'm the leader."

"Fine by me!" Boomer agreed.

"What?! You traitor!" Butch yelled to his brother, then begrudgingly turned back to Buttercup. "Ugh, okay, you're the leader."

Bubbles heard the conversation and turned away from the wall. "So, does this mean you'll help us find Blossom?"

"Of course we will!" Boomer replied. Hearing his response brought a smile to Bubbles' face.

"Alright, it's settled. Now the first order of business… is… to…" Buttercup trailed off as she and her teammates observed the Abomination from the mountaintop. It had just sent three monsters into Townsville, and was now headed west along with the Gangreen Gang. The Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys also saw a yellow streak of light flying south.

"Is that Princess?" Butch squinted at the yellow streak in disbelief.

"That explosion must've given her super powers, too." Buttercup speculated. "But where's she going?"

"Heck if I know!" Boomer stated.

Buttercup considered what Blossom would do in this situation and tried formulating a plan. Obviously the monsters were the immediate threat, and attacking the Abomination now would be suicide. But what about Princess? Buttercup couldn't spare any teammates, but she also couldn't ignore the wannabe Powerpuff Girl. Their leader was forced to make another tough decision.

"Bubbles, follow Princess and make sure she doesn't see you." Buttercup then turned to the Rowdyruff Boys. "You two help me fight those monsters."

Bubbles nodded and flew south, keeping her distance from Princess, then Buttercup and the Boys flew into Townsville to save the day.


	10. Chapter 10

"So what's your plan?" Boomer asked Buttercup.

"What plan? We attack them until they're gone." she replied.

"Music to my ears." Butch gave his opinion. The three of them approached the first monster, a giant green lizard. Buttercup led by flying at it and punching it in the back of the head. It spun around, roared, then breathed a torrent of flames at Buttercup in retaliation. Butch went for the monster's chest while it was blasting Buttercup. One punch sent it stumbling back. The green super-children then joined with Boomer and the three of them flew at the monster's stomach simultaneously.

Unfortunately, the monster was quick to react by whipping the three of them with its tail, scattering them in three different directions. Buttercup and Butch both recovered and resumed their attack. The lizard swatted Buttercup away once again, then turned its attention to Boomer, who was just floating there staring off in the direction Bubbles went. It spat a ball of fire at the blue Rowdyruff Boy, to which Butch responded by flying in front of Boomer and putting up his shield, dissipating the fireball. Buttercup came back and started wailing on the monster.

"What's wrong with you?!" Butch yelled to his brother. "Focus!"

"S-sorry!"

"What were you staring at, anyway?"

"Um, nothing. I was just… um…"

Butch thought about it for a second, then it all became clear to him. Boomer was worried about Bubbles. That idiot had fallen in love with her, hadn't he? Butch figured Boomer would only be a liability in this state. That, and having some alone time with Buttercup might be kinda nice. "Alright, go help Bubbles. Buttercup and I can handle it from here."

"Thanks." Boomer whispered, then flew south. Butch then rejoined Buttercup to find that she'd done some serious damage to the lizard.

"Where's Boomer?"

"I sent him to help Bubbles."

"What?! Did you forget who's in charge here?!"

"Trust me, when he gets his head in the clouds like that, he's more trouble than he's worth. Besides, we got this!" Butch then flew above the monster and slammed down on its head, knocking it into a daze. He and Buttercup then grabbed it by the tail, spun it around and launched it over the horizon.

*****

"A bit small, isn't it?" Blossom commented on her and Brick's shelter. They didn't have much material to work with and neither of them had any experience with wilderness survival. Who'd ever think that superpowered kids would need such skills?

"Best I could do. If you wanna sleep outside, I won't stop you." Brick retorted. Blossom noticed that his insults and quips were a lot more half-hearted than usual, probably because he was hiding the fact that he saved her from the Beat-Alls last night. Why would he do that when his purpose was to destroy her? Everything Blossom understood about the Rowdyruff Boys had been turned upside down, and she needed answers. Once they had their survival needs taken care of, she would confront Brick.

Blossom took a stick and began sharpening it against a rock. "Why would the Abomination strand us on an island?" she wondered.

"It was aiming for me. You were just collateral damage." Brick replied. "Could be that HIM wanted to mess with my head, but this is just contrived and poorly thought out."

"Typical for Mojo." Blossom considered who the Abomination was composed of. "And of course Fuzzy's just plain dumb as a… um…"

"You were gonna say 'dumb as a brick', weren't you?" Brick shot her a condescending look.

Blossom looked over her shoulder at him and sighed. "...Yeah." An awkward silence loomed over them for a moment before Blossom broke it. "Y'know, you've really come a long way since we were kids. Your plan for dealing with that locust was brilliant."

"Well, one of us had to be able to match wits with you. It certainly wasn't gonna be Boomer or Butch."

Blossom looked away from Brick and smiled. "Yeah, that's for sure." She stood up after she finished sharpening her stick, then took off her shoes and stockings and handed them to Brick.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna catch us some fish." Blossom took her makeshift spear and waded out into the water. "Don't lose those."

"Right… yeah. I'll, uh, build a fire." With that he ventured into the brush to gather rocks and firewood. His felt his face turn a little red for some reason, so he turned it green by reminded himself that he'd be eating fish for dinner.

*****

Buttercup and Butch advanced on the second monster, a gargantuan gorilla, as it climbed up a skyscraper. The two of them approached it from either side, forcing it to choose a target or fall off the building. It chose to attack Buttercup and tried to grab her with its left hand. That gave Butch the opportunity to attack its right arm and loosen its grip. Butch's attack caused the gorilla to fall, but it caught itself with its feet. It then swung its fist at Butch and slammed him into the side of the skyscraper.

"Oh, jeez!" Buttercup yelled as she flew to see if Butch was hurt. Fortunately he wasn't seriously injured. The ape took another swing at the green super-children, but missed and hit the building instead. And unfortunately for the monster, it had dealt too much damage to the skyscraper, causing it to collapse. The building fell to its side and the overgrown simian fell off and landed on the pavement, which broke one of its legs. As it was lying prone on the ground below, Butch and Buttercup grabbed its good leg and threw it in the same direction as its saurian cohort.

"That's two! Told you we didn't need Boomer." Butch bragged to his temporary leader.

"Yeah, well, there's still one left." Buttercup pointed to the third monster, an enormous werewolf, as it was approaching City Hall. The two heroes would have to act fast to save the Mayor and Ms. Bellum. Buttercup looked at the downed skyscraper and got an idea. "Hey, help me with this, will ya?" she ordered Butch as she grabbed one side of the skyscraper. Butch saw where she was going and grabbed the other side. The two of them picked up the skyscraper and flew straight at the remaining monster.

The oversized lycanthrope foamed at the mouth and got ready to take a swipe at City Hall when it heard something flying at it fast. It turned to see Buttercup and Butch using the downed building as a makeshift battering ram. Its eyes widened like a deer in the headlights. Too slow to dodge, it was hit with the building at full speed, flinging the beast over the horizon to join its brethren. Butch and Buttercup tossed the building aside and touched down in front of City Hall as the Mayor, Ms. Bellum and the other citizens of Townsville cheered for them. The two heroes took a bow and flew off.

"Hey, Buttercup. You mind if I crash at your house for a while?"

"Um, I guess that's fine. I'll have to talk to the Professor, though." Buttercup thought about what had happened today. "Oh, man! How'm I gonna break all this to him?"

"Well, you're gonna have to." Butch said trying to be supportive. "Before you do, I gotta stop at Fuzzy's place."

"Why?"

"All my stuff is there."

"Uh, what were you doing at Fuzzy's cabin?"

"Well, actually, we had a fight with Mojo and he kicked us out two days ago. We kinda took over Fuzzy's place while he was out."

"Just before the explosion. Lucky you."

"Yeah, I guess so." Butch and his counterpart touched down at Fuzzy's cabin. He and Buttercup picked up the Rowdyruff Boys' stuff and flew back to the Professor's house. Once they arrived, Professor Utonium greeted Buttercup at the door.

"Oh, hi Buttercup. Where are your sisters?" He then saw Butch floating behind her carrying several suitcases and duffel bags. "And what's he doing here?"

Buttercup sighed. "You'd better sit down…"

*****

It had taken hours, but Blossom had managed to spear a few fish while Brick built a fire pit and managed to get a fire going, which was considerably harder to do without his special power. The two of them sat on a log next to the fire and started cooking their dinner. Once their fish were done, Blossom took hers and started eating. Brick looked at his and made a face before reluctantly taking a bite.

"Ugh, I hate fish."

"Lemme guess, Mojo's cooking?"

"Yeah. When did he ever cook for you?"

"He babysat me and my sisters once. I think it was before your time, though."

"C'mon, you're only like three months older than me."

"Older is older." Blossom snickered, then changed the subject. "Y'know Brick, I thought I had you figured out, but lately you've been throwing me curve balls left and right. You avoid attacking me for months, then you save Townsville from that locust, and then…" Blossom took a deep breath. "... you went and saved my life last night."

Brick's eyes widened. _How does she know? Maybe she's just guessing._ "Uh, what are you talking about? I thought you blew up Mojo's lair and escaped."

"C'mon, don't play dumb. You left plenty of clues for me."

"Okay, Sherlock, I'll play your game. So, what do you think you have?"

"Well, first there's the question of who in Townsville is strong enough to take on the Beat-Alls and win. That rules out any civilians. It'd have to be someone with super powers, and the only ones who fit the bill are you, Boomer and Butch."

"True, we are the strongest ones in the city, but who says it was someone from Townsville? You forget that there are superheroes all over the world. Ever heard of the AWSM?"

"Sadly, yes. But then there's the question of who would try to cover it up. Why would any of those egomaniacs want to avoid taking credit for it?"

"C'mon, this is just speculation. Do you have any hard evidence?"

"Two things. One, Princess told me she was attacked by a big icy wolf. If me and my sisters can combine into a fiery cat, what's the opposite of that? What would you and your brothers make?"

"Again, speculation. This is the first I've heard of flaming cats or frozen wolves or anything like that."

"And finally, there's the note you left for the Professor. I recognized your handwriting, Brick."

Brick's eyes widened again as he felt a pit in his stomach, and not just from the fish. He'd completely forgotten about that. How could he have missed something so obvious? But maybe there was still hope. "Uh, how would you know what my handwriting looks like?"

"Please, one of your hobbies is graffiti. Plus there was that 'valentine' you wrote me." Blossom reminded him. Two years ago on Valentine's Day, the Rowdyruff Boys thought it would be funny to write hate-valentines to their Powerpuff counterparts. Brick remembered cutting out a big pink heart for Blossom, decorating it with frills and glitter, and finally writing out his innermost feelings for her.

Blossom, I hate you

You're dumb, you're ugly, and your hair's

stupid and smells like a dead skunk

Go suck a lemon

"Love", Brick

"I can't believe I did that." Brick hung his head upon remembering that prank. "Last time I take ideas from a comic strip."

"Y'know, I still have it."

Brick raised his eyebrow at her. "You kept that stupid thing?"

"I… found it amusing." Blossom rubbed the back of her neck. "Anyway, once we get back, I'll just have the Professor conduct a handwriting test and I'll know for sure it was you."

Brick knew that he'd been beaten and surrendered. "Y'know, I had a feeling you'd figure it out."

*****

Buttercup, Butch and Professor Utonium sat down to dinner. The Professor was still in a funk, so Buttercup ended up cooking for the three of them, making steak and mashed potatoes. Butch was the first one to take a bite of his meal.

"Mmm, this is great!" he said through a mouthful of meat, then swallowed. "I haven't had a decent steak in forever."

"Me neither." Buttercup said. "Not with Bubbles around, anyway."

"Well, I'd rather go vegetarian than have any more of Mojo's cooking."

"Ugh, that was the worst thing I ever tasted." Buttercup took a drink of water to get the "taste" out of her mouth.

The Professor, on the other hand, sat there in silence. Last night all three of his daughters nearly died from losing their Chemical X, and the very next day Blossom had gone missing. It was just too much for him to take. Not having Bubbles around didn't help matters either, and he couldn't even give her a call or he'd blow her stealth mission. And to top things off, Buttercup had apparently gotten involved with a Rowdyruff Boy. The Professor knew it was kind of silly to be worried about that at a time like this, but still couldn't help it. He was her father, after all.

"So, Butch, what exactly is your interest in Buttercup?"

Buttercup spat her water out all over the table. "Whoa, Professor, you got the wrong idea!"

"Uh, yeah, this is just a temporary truce." Butch added.

"Oh, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now." The Professor breathed a sigh of relief for Buttercup, but then went right back to worrying about his other two daughters.

"Don't worry, Professor. Blossom's still alive, and we'll get her back." Buttercup reassured her father. "We just need to take out that Abomination, wherever it is."

"Not sure how we're gonna do it, though." Butch said. "We're also gonna need Boomer and Bubbles once they get back."

"Well, good luck." Professor Utonium finished the last of his dinner and got up. "I'm gonna be in the lab for a while. Thanks for making dinner, Buttercup. Can you unfold the couch for Butch, please?" The green Rowdyruff Boy felt an inexplicable twinge of disappointment at what the Professor just said.

"Sure." Buttercup started floating over to the living room as the Professor left for the lab. Butch followed her in as she turned the couch into a bed. "There you go."

"Uh, thanks." Butch took a seat on his temporary bed. "So what do we do now?"

"Nothing we can do. Just sit tight, I guess." Buttercup took a seat next to him.

"Man, that's so boring. What do you even have to do around here? I bet it's just…" Partway through his sentence, he caught a glimpse of Buttercup's video game collection. "Whoa! You've got Soul and Sword VIII?!"

"Oh yeah! Wanna go a few rounds?"

"You're on!"

*****

"...And then we regrouped at Fuzzy's cabin and spent the night." Brick finished telling Blossom what had happened last night. "Any questions?"

Blossom paused trying to take it all in. "Just… why?" She asked quietly. "Why would you save me? I thought you were my sworn enemy."

"This is gonna sound absolutely insane, but I don't really know why I did it. I just kinda… did it."

Blossom was even more perplexed by Brick's "answer". "Yeah, that is insane. You were gonna take on every villain in Townsville by yourself and you don't even know why? What would you have done if your brothers didn't show up? And why did they show up?"

Brick simply shrugged, unable to answer. Blossom sighed, and the two of them sat in silence for several minutes. Brick eventually spoke up. "Maybe I wanted to stick it to Mojo and the others."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Remember our last battle six months ago?"

"Oh, yeah. We whooped you, didn't we?"

"You outnumbered us." Brick retorted. "Anyway, when we got home, Boomer asked me point-blank why we were always fighting you Girls. It'd been rolling around in the back of my mind for some time, but then when he asked, I had to seriously think about it. I stayed up all night contemplating my purpose in life, my future, my goals, everything."

"And what'd you come up with?"

"I came to realize that I was only fighting you because that was what Mojo wanted. My brothers and I weren't his sons, we were just weapons being used to further his goals. I didn't want to be a slave anymore, so I renounced my purpose of destroying you and he kicked us out. Maybe I thought it'd be ironic if the boy he created to destroy you ended up saving you from him instead. A fitting punishment, don't you think?"

Blossom looked away from him and sat silently for a moment before answering. "So, that's the reason, huh?"

"Probably. Something wrong with that?"

"No, it's just…" Blossom stood up. "Nothing. I'm gonna turn in for the night." She began walking to their shelter, but halfway there she stopped, looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks for saving me, Brick."

"Anytime, Blossom. Anytime."

*****

"I will protect humanity… or die trying." Sigarda struck a pose and brandished her zweihander as the screen read 'Sigarda wins!'.

"Oh yeah! Buttercup six, Butch zero!" the green Powerpuff Girl gloated to her male counterpart.

"That's just 'cause you're Sigarda! Everyone knows she's broken in half."

"This coming from a Ramirez player? Just admit I kicked your butt."

"Grr, this game's dumb!" Butch tossed his controller aside and picked up the TV remote. "Let's see what's on TV." He flipped through the channels when he stumbled upon the live coverage of the AWSM Super Summit 2008.

"Oh no, not that." Buttercup complained.

"What's the matter?"

"It's a long story. Just turn it off."

"Well in that case…" Butch stuffed the remote in his pocket. "Let's keep watching."

"Hey, I'm the leader, and I say change the channel."

"But I'm your guest, and I wanna watch."

"Gimme the remote!" Buttercup tackled Butch and the two fought for control. But in the middle of their wrestling match, they stopped and turned to the TV.

"There you have it, live from Mt. Neverest. This is Maria Guadalupe O'Flanagan signing… wait, what's that?" Maria's helicopter spun around, and the Abomination appeared on camera.

*****

"By the Star-Spangled Banner!" Major Glory was in the middle of roll call when a giant laser blasted the roof off the Rotunda of Seclusion. He and the other heroes stepped outside to see a grotesque monster floating their way. It shot another laser and took out another chunk of the Rotunda, as well as several superheroes, including Down Under Mate and Mucho Muchacho.

"Heroes, ho!" Major Glory yelled as he led the remaining heroes in their counterattack. Him, Big Ben and Yahmon went straight for the Abomination when it extended its tentacle and entangled Yahmon. It electrocuted the Jamaican hero and tried to drain his powers when it came to a realization.

"Right, your powers don't come from Chemical X, do they?" Unable to depower him, the Abomination instead slammed him into the side of Mt. Neverest and turned to Big Ben and Major Glory. It opened its claw and snapped its finger, then several bolts of lightning rained down from the sky. One of them struck Big Ben and knocked him out cold. Major Glory was about to be struck too, but Valhallen raised his guitar and used it to redirect and absorb the lightning.

"Nice try, dude! Now, thou shalt feel the power of the Mighty Axe!" The Viking God of Rock then struck a chord on his guitar and blasted the absorbed lightning back at the Abomination, thrusting it back into the side of a mountain. Once it recovered, the Abomination snapped its finger again and a dark portal appeared behind Valhallen, from which the Super Gangreen Gang emerged. Grubber blasted a sonic belch at him. Valhallen tried to counter with a blast from his guitar, but Grubber's attack overpowered him and knocked him against a big rock, rendering him unconscious.

"Well done." the Abomination said to his minions. "Now get the rest of them!"

Snake stretched his body and grabbed Big Billy with his oversized hand, then went after Moo-Shu-Gai Man. The Chinese superhero threw several punches at Snake but was unable to make contact, as the green thug proved too slippery. Once Moo-Shu-Gai Man was tired out, Snake pinned him down and slammed Big Billy into him several times, defeating the hero.

E-Male went for the Abomination but was stopped by Li'l Arturo. The two speedsters exchanged blows at lightning speed. Li'l Arturo got in a few good hits, but E-Male had the advantage both in size and experience, and emerged victorious after several seconds. Unfortunately for the Japanese cyborg, that proved to be all the distraction the Abomination needed to blast him with its laser and knock him out.

Finally, Ace used his ice powers to surf through the air after Mandingo. The African hero turned and attempted to slam into Ace at full force, but was met with a blast of ice and frozen solid. Unable to fly, Mandingo fell to the ground, defeated.

"Oh, my stars and stripes." Major Glory observed his fallen comrades, then turned to the Abomination. "I don't need them to defeat you!" As he flew in to strike, the Abomination simply rolled its eyes, grabbed him with its tentacle and slammed him into the ground.

With all the AWSM heroes down, the Super Gangreen Gang gathered them into one spot. Then the Abomination opened a dark portal beneath them and banished them to who-knows-where. It caught sight of the various news helicopters that had been broadcasting the battle. Taking advantage of the situation, it made an announcement to the world.

"People of Earth, your greatest heroes have fallen! Soon, this world shall be my property!"

*****

Princess turned off her TV, seeing that the Abomination had succeeded in the first phase of its plan. It looked like she'd have to pick up the pace. It might've helped if she had more information, though. The Abomination had told her that it stranded Blossom and Brick on an island in the Gulf of Mexico, but didn't tell her _where_ in the Gulf of Mexico. Even with superpowers it would take a while to find them.

The Abomination thought it was being creative by stranding the two leaders instead of killing them, but all that did was make it possible for someone to rescue them. Princess knew from experience that the Powerpuff Girls had a nasty habit of coming back from the brink of destruction to save the day, no matter how close to success the villains' plans were. Even when stripped of her powers and trapped on an island in the middle of nowhere, Blossom still posed a threat to the Abomination's plans, assuming she and Brick didn't kill each other first.

Exhausted from searching all day, she picked up her phone to order room service. It was time to see what the finest resort hotel in Cancun had to offer.

*****

Bubbles sat on a cloud overlooking the hotel Princess checked in to. It had been surprisingly easy to follow the spoiled brat without being seen, but it didn't make sense that she spent several hours flying aimlessly over the sea. What was she trying to accomplish? Whatever it was, Bubbles was getting tired from chasing Princess all day.

Bubbles opened her mouth. Soon after, several bats flew up to her, responding the ultrasonic signal she used to beckon them. She conversed with the bats in an inaudible frequency, asking them to watch over Princess through her hotel room window so Bubbles could get some sleep. Swayed by her cute charm, the bats agreed and flew next to Princess's room to keep watch.

"That was awesome." a familiar voice complimented Bubbles from behind. The blue Powerpuff Girl turned to see Boomer floating nearby. "Room for one more?" He took a seat on the cloud.

"Where'd you come from?"

"They sent me to follow you. What's happening?"

"Princess was flying around the ocean all day, and now she's staying in that hotel. I'm stuck out here 'cause it's the most expensive one in the city."

"That's Princess for you." Boomer sighed. "Man, I wish I was rich. Then I could've bought you something nice instead of that cheap thing." He gestured towards Bubbles' wrist.

"Oh, I love it anyway." Bubbles looked at her bracelet and smiled. "So… why did you get me this?"

"Same reason I saved you from Mojo's lair last night."

"That was you?!" Bubbles gasped.

"Well, my brothers helped. Don't know why, though. But I did it because…" Boomer took a deep breath. "Because I love you, Bubbles!"

Bubbles' heart skipped a beat. She froze up with a look of complete shock on her face. She couldn't believe it. After all this time, the boy she yearned for finally returned her affection. Once she unfroze, she squealed with pure joy and embraced Boomer.

"I love you too!" With that, Boomer embraced her back, and the two of them shared their first real kiss.


	11. Chapter 11

Buttercup awoke in the middle of the night from a bad dream. It scared her out of her wits, but after a minute all she could remember was that it had something to do with wolves. Must've been that monster she and Butch fought today. As embarrassing as it was for the toughest fighter to have nightmares, this sort of thing tended to happen when she slept alone, and seeing the Abomination take out the entire AWSM on live TV didn't help. Turning to either side of the bed, she thought about how much she missed her sisters, not that she'd ever admit it. Hopefully they'd be back soon.

Buttercup got up and floated downstairs for a glass of water. On her way to the kitchen she passed by the living room to see Butch playing Soul and Sword. She stared at him for a second. "Have you been up all night playing that game?!"

"Gotta practice. Can't let you beat me again." Butch replied, only half-paying attention to her. His eyes were glazed over and his forehead was drenched in sweat. Clearly he'd been at this for a while.

"You're impossible." Buttercup shook her head at Butch and proceeded to the kitchen. "Did you hear from Bubbles yet?"

"Nah."

"I see…" As Buttercup poured herself some water, she began to worry that her orders put Bubbles in danger. The fact that she hadn't called meant that Princess might've spotted Bubbles and taken her out. There was also the possibility that Boomer blew the mission. He always was the dumbest of the Rowdyruff Boys, and that was saying something. She shouldn't have let Butch dismiss Boomer like that. Maybe she shouldn't have sent Bubbles after Princess in the first place. Some leader Buttercup was turning out to be.

Buttercup took her glass and sat on the couch-bed next to Butch. "Do you think I did alright today?" she asked. As weird as it felt seeking reassurance from him, she didn't have anyone else at the moment. He'd have to do.

"Well, we beat the monsters, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but Bubbles is still out there, and who knows if she's okay? Plus the Abomination is taking over the world as we speak." Buttercup sighed. "Blossom probably would've known what to do. She always has a plan."

"Eh, if she's anything like Brick, she'd have come up with some needlessly convoluted strategy that'd fall apart after ten seconds. They both waste too much time planning, but it's action that wins battles. At least you got that right."

"I guess…"

"Besides, what kind of plan could we have made to beat something that powerful?"

"I don't know. Like I said, Blossom's the one who comes up with the plans." Buttercup hung her head. "Better ones than me, anyway."

"Well, she's not here, and don't compare yourself to her. You're Buttercup, so just be Buttercup."

Buttercup fell silent and paused thinking about what Butch just said to her. It felt… encouraging? Validating? Whatever it was, she couldn't believe something like that came from Butch. He was a rude, obnoxious meathead, and yet… that was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.

"Thanks, that's all I needed." She got up and floated upstairs, turning away from him to hide her smile. Butch simply continued playing Soul and Sword.

*****

Brick awoke the next morning and headed to the fire pit, allowing Blossom to continue sleeping. Last night had been the most awkward night of his life. _I can't believe I missed that note. And why did I say 'Anytime, Blossom'? That was so stupid._ Brick berated himself for not thinking clearly, which he seemed to be having a hard time doing lately. Not only that, but it turned out Blossom was right about the shelter being too small. Sleeping in close quarters next to his former nemesis was weird enough, but then it started raining and they had to huddle together for warmth. It was just one thing after another. _The sooner we get off this island, the better._ Brick started building a fire, both to get a smoke signal going and to take his mind off of things.

As he finished collecting fuel, Blossom approached Brick on the beach carrying some wild fruits she found. "Hey, so, these are edible. Better than fish, right?"

"Uh, yeah… thanks." He avoided eye contact with her as she handed him a fruit. Blossom did the same as the two of them sat quietly eating their breakfast. After some thought, Brick figured that this awkward silence was only making things worse and decided to break it. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why'd the Professor create you and your sisters?"

"Still sorting through your existential crisis, huh?" Blossom replied.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Well, he said it was because he wanted children to teach right and wrong to. Townsville was a crime-ridden wasteland before us and he thought by teaching us good and evil we could do something to improve it."

"So he wanted daughters, not soldiers?"

"Right. Actually, he only added the Chemical X by accident. He never meant to give us superpowers, but we decided to use them to fight crime."

"Huh. All this time I thought you were created to be the guardians of Townsville or something, but you're doing it by choice. I envy you." Realizing what he just said, Brick changed the subject. "Y'know, he would've failed without the Chemical X."

"Yeah, but he didn't know at the time. Though in retrospect it should've been obvious that mixing sugar, spice and everything nice just gets you a big pile of seasoning."

"Right. You need something to bind it all together, empower it and give it life. That's what Chemical X does. It's probably how the Abomination came to be, too."

"Makes sense. Take Mojo, Fuzzy and HIM, add Chemical X, bake at 1600 degrees for eight hours and you get a grotesque, superpowered monstrosity bent on world domination."

"I think the Chemical X-tractor got mixed in there, too." Brick speculated. "That'd explain how it stole our powers."

"Yeah, probably." Blossom then hung her head and took on a more serious tone. "How am I ever gonna stop that thing?"

"I don't know." With that Brick stood up to light the fire, suppressing an inexplicable urge to comfort Blossom and tell her it'd all be okay. _Please let someone see the smoke._

*****

Bubbles' new bat friends observed Princess Morbucks waking up, so one of them flew up to Bubbles' cloud to awaken the blue heroine. The bat found that Bubbles and Boomer had fallen asleep in each other's arms. It flew up near Bubbles' face and started screeching.

"Mmm, what the…?" Bubbles mumbled as she awoke. She and the bat started talking and it informed her that Princess was about to move out. Bubbles thanked it for helping her, then turned to Boomer and shook him awake. "Hey, Boomer, wake up."

"Mmm, what was that, my love?" He asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Bubbles' face turned red.

"Eduardo told me Princess is up. We gotta get going."

"Eduardo?"

"One of my new friends." She gestured to the bat that woke her up.

"You made friends with a flock of bats in one night?" Boomer smiled at her. "You're amazing, Bubbles."

"Thanks." Bubbles smiled back at him and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's get ready. By the way, a group of bats is a colony, not a flock."

"Right, gotcha." The two superheroes overlooked the hotel until they saw Princess exit through the front, then fly out onto the Gulf. Bubbles and Boomer took to the sky and flew after her, hiding behind clouds and using their X-ray vision to keep tabs on the fake Powerpuff. After about two hours of watching Princess flying around, and somehow managing to keep their eyes off each other despite the extreme difficulty, they observed the entitled aristocrat landing on an island and looking through the vegetation.

"It's just like yesterday." Bubbles whispered to her boyfriend. "She just stops on a random island, looks around, then flies to another one."

"What's she trying to do?" Boomer whispered back.

"No idea." Bubbles and Boomer continued watching. Once Princess was done combing the island, she sat on the beach for a few minutes, apparently thinking about something. Then she slapped herself in the face.

"Duh!" Princess said to herself, then took flight and headed back to Cancun. Bubbles and Boomer quietly followed her, holding hands as they flew.

*****

Buttercup and Professor Utonium sat down to breakfast, the latter still worried sick about Blossom and Bubbles. He'd managed to keep himself together long enough to make pancakes and some coffee, but as soon as he sat down, he slumped back in his chair and let out a sigh. Buttercup felt his pain too and decided to do something about it. She still had no idea where Blossom was, but she did know where to look for Bubbles.

"I'm sorry, Professor. As soon as I'm done with breakfast, Butch and I are gonna go after Bubbles."

"Thanks, Buttercup." The Professor felt a twinge of relief. "Where is he, by the way?"

"Still sleeping. He stayed up all night playing video games."

"Sounds like someone else I know." The Professor joked. Buttercup groaned at him in response. Once she finished the last of her breakfast, she floated over to the living room, but before she made it her phone started ringing and she answered it.

"What is it, Mayor?"

"Buttercup, help! Sedusa just robbed National Trust Bank!"

"I'm on it!" Apparently Bubbles would have to wait. Buttercup dashed over to Butch, who was still asleep on the couch-bed, and started shaking him. "Get up! I need you to help me fight Sedusa."

"Mmph, ten more minutes…" he grumbled at her. Buttercup slapped him in the back of the head. "Gah! Okay, coming!" The two of them flew out the door and into downtown Townsville to stop the evil seductress.

*****

"Thanks a lot, handsome." Sedusa said as she caressed the tied-up bank teller's chin. Taking her stolen sack of loot, she blew a kiss to him as she exited the bank. Once she left, she was greeted by Buttercup folding her arms at her and Butch struggling to stay awake.

"Whatcha got there, Sedusa?" Buttercup inquired sarcastically.

"My retirement fund."

Butch yawned. "Guess you'll be needing it soon, won't you?" he taunted. Sedusa scowled at him, then turned her attention to Buttercup.

"So, you two are working together now." the villainess observed. "I suppose it was only a matter of time. That monkey never thought anything through, did he?"

"Shut up!" Buttercup shouted. "Now drop the cash, or we drop you!"

"Let's see you try it!" Sedusa whipped a strand of her hair at Buttercup and another at Butch, but the two of them both managed to dodge. Buttercup then flew in for an attack only for Sedusa to back-flip out of the way. Butch lethargically threw a punch and missed by a mile.

"Wake up, moron!" Buttercup yelled to her teammate. Sedusa took advantage of the distraction and entangled Buttercup's arms and legs with her hair. Butch felt a sudden, inexplicable jolt of adrenaline and rushed at Sedusa, only to have his hands bound as well. Sedusa then pulled him in front of her.

"Come now, boy." She began stroking Butch's cheek. "Y'know, you and I are the only real villains left in Townsville, and she's just one Powerpuff Girl. Whaddya say we take over this town together?"

"Get bent, you old hag!" Butch blasted her in the face with his laser eyes. Sedusa screamed in pain and covered her face, loosening her grip on Buttercup and Butch. The two superheroes broke out of her hair and quickly punched Sedusa, knocking her into a fire hydrant. Buttercup then tore off the top of the hydrant, dousing the evildoer's hair and rendering her powerless. Soon after, the cops showed up and arrested her.

As Buttercup gave her testimony to the cops, Butch floated over to a nearby bench and sat down, still tired from staying up all night. Buttercup finished up with the police and sat down beside him. She was forced to reconsider going after Bubbles. Sure, Sedusa was taken care of, but there could be other crooks waiting to come out of the woodwork now that all of Townsville's major villains were out of the picture. And who knows when another monster might attack? For now she'd have to stay and protect the city. But at least she wasn't alone.

She turned to Butch. "I'm surprised you didn't fall for Sedusa's feminine charm." she joked.

"Eh, she ain't my type." Butch joked back. _Strong, hot-headed, dark hair, green eyes… sure sounds like your type._ "Shut up, brain." he mumbled to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Butch yawned again. "I'm just sleep deprived."

"And who's fault is that?" Buttercup then softened her tone. "Hey, thanks for what you said last night."

"What'd I say?"

"Y'know, that I'm Buttercup, and I should just be Buttercup."

"Oh, yeah. Did you forget your own name or something?"

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "No! It's just…" She looked up at the sky. "Did I ever tell you how I got my name?"

"Why would you ever tell me that?" Butch asked semi-rhetorically. Buttercup didn't answer and continued talking.

"Well, when me and my sisters were born, the Professor named Blossom for opening right up to him, Bubbles for her bubbliness, and me Buttercup because…" She took on a mocking tone. "'It also begins with a B.'"

"Wow, what a jerk."

"No, he's a great dad, but…" Buttercup paused and sighed heavily. "Sometimes it feels like I'm living in their shadows, like there's nothing that makes me stand out. I don't even think I have a special power." She stuck out her tongue and curled it. "Unweth you count thith." She then retracted her tongue. "It just felt good to be recognized, y'know?" Buttercup then realized that she'd just spilled her guts to Butch without even thinking. She slapped herself in the face, then turned to him expecting him to laugh and make fun of her for it.

"You always stood out to me." he said after another huge yawn. Buttercup raised her eyebrow at him in disbelief. "I mean, you're the best fighter on your team. Why do you think I always went after you in our battles? I needed a challenge."

Buttercup was taken aback. "I just figured you hated me."

"Oh, I never hated you, Buttercup." Butch paused for a second. "Well, maybe I did at first. But lately I've realized you're actually pretty cool, at least compared to your sisters."

Buttercup couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why were all these nice things coming from the mouth of the biggest jerk in Townsville? There had to be something wrong here. "That's the sleep deprivation talking, isn't it?"

Butch let out yet another yawn and closed his eyes. "Yeah, probably."

Buttercup sighed and looked away. "And just like that, you're back to…" She suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder and turned to see that Butch had fallen asleep on it. Buttercup smiled and shook her head at the same time. "Get up, dunderhead."

*****

"Thanks. I love you too, Daddy!" Princess Morbucks hung up after asking a favor from her father. Rather than fly around aimlessly searching for two needles in a haystack, she decided to use the best satellite surveillance money could buy. All she had to do was relax while Daddy's men surveilled the Gulf until they found Blossom. It was the perfect plan. After all, why should the wealthy elite do any work when they could simply pay lower-class peons to do it for them?

Since receiving superpowers from that explosion, Princess had been happier than ever. She was a Powerpuff Girl now, and a super-rich one at that. With her new powers combined with her wealth and status, she was perhaps the most extraordinary person on Earth. Maybe now people would start loving her for how great she was, instead of excluding her or calling her a spoiled brat. Of course, she'd only had these powers for a couple days while Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup had them their whole lives. Princess would need some practice in order to keep up with them. That, and it gave her something to do while waiting to hear from Daddy. With that, she left the hotel and flew out to the country for some training.

*****

"Did you hear that?!" Bubbles asked Boomer as the two hid on the balcony of Princess's room. "Blossom and Brick are still alive!"

"So that's what she's been up to." Boomer said. "We should call the others." His stomach then began to rumble as he realized he hadn't eaten anything in almost a full day. "Um, actually, are you hungry, too?"

"I'm starving to death." Bubbles replied, also not having eaten since breakfast yesterday. Since Princess had flown off into the countryside, they decided it was safe to eat at the hotel restaurant. Bubbles had enough birthday money on her to cover their meal, so the two of them sat down and ordered lunch. Bubbles then took out her phone and was about to call Buttercup, but Boomer stopped her just before she did.

"Hey, Bubbles, could you, maybe… not tell Butch and Buttercup about us just yet." Bubbles sighed, but agreed. After all, she wasn't really sure how to break it to them either. She then dialed Buttercup's number and put the phone on speaker.

*****

Butch awoke after taking a nap, then floated over to the kitchen table to join Buttercup and the Professor for lunch.

"Look who decided to join us." Buttercup said.

"We ate all the meatballs, but there's still some noodles left." Professor Utonium added.

"Yeah, thanks." Butch sarcastically answered. He then took what little was left and started eating. In the middle of their meal, Buttercup's phone rang.

"It's Bubbles." She told the Professor before answering. He let out a sigh of relief while Buttercup answered and put the phone on speaker. "Hey, where've you been?"

"We've been worried sick." the Professor said.

"Sorry, Professor." Bubbles replied. "We've been following Princess for the last day-and-a-half."

"If it makes you feel better, she didn't see either of us." Boomer added.

"Oh, you caught up to her? I half-expected you to get lost." Butch teased. Boomer grumbled at his brother.

"Where are you two?" Buttercup asked. Bubbles and Boomer then explained what had happened. That they were in Mexico, that Blossom and Brick were stuck on an island, that Princess was searching for them, and the fact that they were stuck outside with no money. It was a lot to take in, but it helped knowing that Bubbles and Boomer were safe and that Blossom and Brick were still alive.

"Alright, I'll go to the lab and see if I can hack into the Morbucks' satellite network. Once they know, we'll know." Professor Utonium said.

"Thanks, Professor." Buttercup then turned to the phone. "Bubbles, Boomer, stay in Cancun and be ready to move out as soon as we give the word."

"Got it." the blue heroes said in unison.

"Just one last thing." the Professor said. "Boomer, why did you give Bubbles that bracelet?"

"Wait, what'd he do?" Butch asked, dumbfounded by the question.

"Oh, uh… I did that as a joke."

"Yeah, he really got me."

The Professor scratched his head. "I don't get it."

"It's a young people thing, Professor. You wouldn't understand." Bubbles lied.

"Well, okay then…" With that, the Professor left for his lab. Buttercup and Butch said goodbye to their siblings and hung up, then retreated to the living room after Butch challenged Buttercup to a Soul and Sword rematch.

"Boomer gave Bubbles a bracelet? When did that happen?"

"Last week at our birthday party."

"So that's why he wanted us to crash it." Butch thought silently for a second. "They're dating, aren't they?"

"Definitely."

*****

It had taken all day, but the Abomination had finished remodeling the Rotunda of Seclusion into its new lair. It didn't help having the armies of all the neighboring countries hounding him, but it had created its own army of robots to keep its enemies at bay. The robots wielded boomsticks and wore fashionable fur boas, but they still had Mojo Jojo's genius engineering built into them. They were the perfect soldiers.

The Abomination sat on its humongous throne and beckoned the Super Gangreen Gang to its main chamber. The super-powered hoodlums came down from the observatory at their leader's behest.

"Any sign of the remaining Powerpuff Girls?"

"Nah, nothin' yet." Ace answered. "No Rowdyruff Boys, neither."

"Ssso what'sss the plan now?" Snake asked.

"We continue amassing our army. Which is to say that we remain idle while my militia comprised solely of automatons continues to self-replicate until it reaches the desired number for our future plans."

"It'd go quicker if that Morbucks brat would help us." Ace complained. Grubber blew a raspberry in agreement.

"Let her do what she wants." the Abomination replied. "We don't need her."

"Ya think she had a point? I mean, you coulda just killed 'em."

"Don't question my genius, you pathetic mortal!" the Abomination snapped.

"Okay, okay, chill out." Ace and his gang stepped back. "Anyway, we got more tanks comin' in from the north. Whatcha want us to do about it?"

"Get them off my property!"

"You got it!" Ace gestured for his gang to gather around him. The Abomination then opened up a dark portal for them and they stepped through to the frontlines. Now that it was alone, it waved its claw and conjured a viewing screen to check on the AWSM superheroes, who'd been imprisoned in a pocket dimension since the Abomination couldn't drain their powers.

"Earth's mightiest heroes and they didn't even last five minutes against me. The world will be mine very soon."

*****

"Drown in the abyss, landlubber!" Ramirez pointed his pistol sword skyward and shot into the air as the screen read 'Ramirez wins!'.

"Well done, you _finally_ got a win off of me." Buttercup sarcastically congratulated Butch as she grabbed a slice of the pizza they'd ordered for dinner. "Shall we celebrate with another round?"

"Nah, I'm good." Butch replied, also grabbing a slice. "Let's do something else."

 _You chicken!_ Buttercup suppressed the urge to yell at him. "Like what?"

"How 'bout a movie?" Butch started rummaging through his suitcase. "I was thinking Spore vs. Evil Tim." he said holding up a copy of the DVD.

"Oh, man, I've wanted to see that one for years!" Buttercup exclaimed, then let out a sigh. "But the Professor was all like 'No, it'll give you nightmares!', and 'You're too young to be seeing R-rated movies!'."

"Good thing this is the unrated version, then." Butch joked. "But seriously, live a little. I thought you liked Spore."

"Well, duh! Wait, how do you know that?"

"I may have thumbed through your comic books last night." Butch admitted. "Or were you more of a Bunny-Bunny fan?"

Buttercup scowled at him. "Don't make me hurt you." With that, the two of them flew up to the Girls' bedroom and popped in the DVD. As they watched the movie, Buttercup thought over the events of the last couple days, specifically about Butch. They'd been fighting their whole lives, and yet here he was playing video games and watching movies with her like they were best friends. It was funny to think they'd gotten so close in only two days despite their past.

"A classic." Butch said once the movie was over. "What'd you think?" he asked Buttercup.

"It was… fine." Though she didn't want to admit it, it looked like the Professor might've been right. The movie really creeped her out, especially the part where Evil Tim summoned those crows. She considered the nightmare she had last night and the fact that her sisters still weren't here. If she was to have any chance of getting a good night's sleep, she had but one option. "Hey, you wanna sleep here tonight?"

Butch looked at her as if she'd suddenly grown an extra head. "Uh, are you sure about that? I mean, we…"

"Don't get any ideas. I'm just not used to sleeping alone."

"Well, alright then. That couch is so uncomfortable anyway." With that, the two of them got ready for bed.

*****

The Professor had called another hotel and made arrangements for Bubbles and Boomer to stay there. It was cheaper than the one Princess was staying at, and it was closer to the coastline. Once Blossom and Brick were located, the blue heroes could move out at a moment's notice and have a head start on Princess. It was perfect for them.

The couple headed down to the hotel restaurant to have dinner. After they sat down, Bubbles looked at Boomer with the biggest smile on her face. Here she was, having dinner with the boy she loved, in one of the most beautiful cities on Earth, the day after they'd shared their first kiss. Aside from her missing sister and the looming threat of the Abomination, it was a dream come true.

"Hey, I'm sorry about what I said earlier." Boomer apologized to his girlfriend. "About not wanting you to tell the others about us."

"I understand." Bubbles replied. "I mean, how could I tell my dad that I'm dating a Rowdyruff Boy?"

"Right, I know what you mean. I've had to keep my feelings secret ever since the fair."

"We should totally go next year!" Bubbles exclaimed.

"Ok, but no more pineapples." Boomer replied. "Anyway, I could never tell Mojo that I didn't want to destroy you anymore. Or my brothers, for that matter."

Bubbles sighed, thinking back to how Blossom reacted to Boomer's present, and to another incident from her past. "Y'know, Buttercup actually knew I liked you."

"You told her?!"

"Well, sort of. She overheard me talking to Octi about it. I had to give her my allowance for a month just to keep her quiet. At least she kept her word."

"Octi? Your stuffed octopus?" Even for Bubbles, it seemed a little childish for her to still have that thing. "Aren't you a little old for…"

"This was back when I was seven."

"Wait, you've liked me this whole time?! And I…!" Boomer froze up and slowly buried his face in his hands as a lifetime's worth of guilt caught up with him all at once. "Oh, man! Brick was right, I am The Dumber than the Dumbest."

"It's all in the past." Bubbles reassured him. "Not that Blossom would ever understand. It's so unfair, especially when she secretly likes Brick."

Boomer looked up. "She does?"

"Well, probably." Bubbles then sighed and went back to the subject at hand. "We're gonna have to tell them sometime."

"We will." Boomer reassured her, then picked up the menu. "So, what's vegetarian-friendly here?"

"Oh, you don't have to stop eating meat just for me."

"I love you, Bubbles." Once their waiter arrived, Boomer ordered four beef tacos. Bubbles smiled and shook her head before ordering a salad.

*****

Blossom looked up at the full moon as Brick choked down the last of his fish. While she managed to stomach hers, Blossom grew concerned about how long they could survive off of fish and wild fruit. Actually, she was thinking about a lot of things at the moment. How would she and Brick escape this island, and once they did, what would she do about the Abomination? And what damage had the Abomination done in Blossom's absence? Were her sisters okay? Was Townsville okay? The pain of not knowing was getting to be too much.

Whatever the Abomination was doing, Blossom knew it had to be stopped. Three Powerpuff Girls probably weren't enough, though, especially if it can steal their powers. She turned to Brick, who for some reason hadn't said much to her since their conversation this morning.

"Hey, Brick, I'm glad you're not trying to destroy me anymore."

"I figured you would be." Brick replied sarcastically. Blossom realized she could have phrased that better, but continued anyway.

"So, if that's not your purpose anymore, what now? Do you have a new one?"

"I… never actually thought about that." Brick shrugged. "I got nothing."

"Would you ever consider being a hero? I could really use your help fighting that Abomination."

Brick looked at her in disbelief for a moment, trying to figure out his response. He eventually replied to her. "Why would you want me on your team?"

"Well, you're just as powerful as me and my sisters, and you're pretty good at thinking up battle strategies." Blossom smiled a little. "That, and you took on almost every villain in Townsville and saved me. That was pretty heroic of you… and your brothers. They could join too, I guess."

"So you're suggesting we merge our two teams?"

"Yeah!" Blossom dialed it back a little. "I mean, if you'd want."

Brick contemplated the idea for a minute, then came to a decision. "Sure, why not? I suppose we could give it a try. If it doesn't work I could always just…" He stopped mid-sentence and sighed, then he looked away from her and hung his head.

"What's wrong?"

"You know what the worst thing about this is? It's all the guilt." Brick started to choke up a little. "I spent all those years fighting you… hurting you… all just to please that stupid monkey." He shook his head. "No, I can't keep blaming Mojo. I did it all willingly."

"Brick…" Blossom sat down beside him.

"Blossom, I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you all these years." Still avoiding eye contact, he continued his apology. "I can't tell you how much I regret it. I wish I could take it all back, but…"

Blossom could barely believe her eyes. Was Brick seriously apologizing to her? Just a couple days ago she'd think he was faking it to make her let her guard down, but now she knew he was being sincere. Brick had definitely changed. Besides, she owed him her life. The least she could give him in return was fresh start.

Blossom touched Brick on the shoulder, prompting him to look her way. As soon as he did, she pulled him in and hugged him. "I forgive you." Blossom whispered. Brick said nothing and simply hugged her back.

As they pulled apart, they stopped and looked into each other's eyes. Both of their hearts started beating rapidly as they held their gaze. Unable to deny their feelings any longer, the two of them closed their eyes, leaned in and kissed.

*****

Butch lied awake in bed next to Buttercup thinking about the past couple days. Hanging out with Buttercup had been the most fun he'd had in ages. Fighting her was always a blast, but fighting alongside her was just as fun. Who knew they'd become such good friends in only two days?

 _Friends?_ Butch thought. _Nah, I can do better than that._ Buttercup was the whole package. She was fun, she was strong, and she was super hot. She was even a good cook, at least better than Mojo. And here they were lying in the same bed. He'd be a fool to let her get away. Summoning all his courage, he turned to his new friend. "Hey, Buttercup."

"Yeah?" Buttercup mumbled.

"When this is over, you wanna go out with me?"

Buttercup's eyes shot open as she took a second to reply. "I told you not to get any ideas, Butch."

"Oh, come on! Don't tell me it wouldn't work." Butch then remembered he had an ace in the hole. "Would it help if I told you I saved you from the Beat-Alls?"

Buttercup fell silent, unsure of how to react to that. She hadn't even thought about who had done that, but now that he mentioned it, who else could it have been? "Princess said she was attacked by an icy wolf…"

"That was our new combo attack. The Crushing Cold Canine!"

"You plagiarist!"

"Don't blame me. Brick thought of the name." Butch sensed her trying to change the subject and decided not to let her get away with it. "So, what do you say? Next Saturday work for you?"

"Mmm…" Buttercup paused mulling it over.

"Just so you know, I meant everything I said this morning. About you being really cool and standing out and being the second-best fighter in the city."

"Second-best?!" she yelled to Butch. "Oh, I'm gonna make you eat those words!"

"So it's a date then?"

Buttercup looked away from him. "I'll… think about it."


	12. Chapter 12

Professor Utonium awoke in his laboratory after falling asleep during a long night of lab work. He'd managed to hack into the Morbucks' satellite surveillance system last night and set his computer to alert him when Blossom and Brick had been found. He turned to his computer to see that the alarm had gone off. The Professor's eyes lit up as he pulled up the satellite image to see Blossom lighting a fire on an island in the middle of nowhere.

"Oh, Blossom, you're okay!" He wiped a single tear from his eye, then ran out of the lab to tell Buttercup and Butch.

*****

Brick awoke the next morning and saw that Blossom had already gotten up and went out. Before leaving the shelter, he thought about last night. He could no longer deny that he'd developed feelings for Blossom, and that all of his recent actions made sense in light of that fact. He laughed at himself upon realizing that his existential crisis was actually just a big crush on her. _When did I fall for her?_ Brick wondered. _Was it that night Boomer questioned me? Maybe I did a long time ago and was just in denial. What idiot falls in love with their nemesis, anyway?_ Brick sighed. _Apparently the two idiots on this island._

Brick got up and walked onto the beach to see that Blossom had already gathered some fruit and lit the fire. "Hey, about that kiss last night…"

"You're not gonna pretend you didn't do that, are you?" Blossom interrupted. "It didn't work for you last time."

"No, it's just…" Brick smiled. "I'm glad you feel the same way."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said I…?"

"Oh, come on! You were just as into it as I was."

"That was… just the heat of the moment. I wasn't thinking straight."

"Were you thinking straight when you held on to that valentine from me? Or when you tried to save me from the Abomination? Or when you hugged me and told me you forgave me for everything?"

"Mmm." Blossom looked away, unable to think of a response. Brick smirked at his apparent victory.

"Check and mate!"

"Hey, you can't checkmate me when… wait, do you play chess?"

"Yeah, online. I would in real life but my brothers are both terrible."

"Tell me about it. Ms. Bellum gave me this really nice set for my birthday and so far it's just been collecting dust. Let's play a game when we get back."

"Yeah, it's a date." Brick said, attempting to get back on topic.

Blossom sighed and shook her head. "I just wanna get some mileage out of my chess set. It's one of those Gisela sets."

"Whoa, that's a top-of-the-line luxury brand. Must be nice having rich friends like Ms. Bellum." Brick remembered something from eight years ago and got an idea. "Maybe I should've let Princess join my team."

Without thinking, Blossom snapped at Brick. "Why would you ever want that stuck-up little brat over…?" She then realized that she played right into his hand and slapped herself in the face.

"Jealous?" Brick smirked at her.

Blossom sighed and admitted defeat. "Okay, you win." She sat down on a log in front of the fire. "It's just… this is so weird. We've been enemies our whole lives, so where'd these feelings come from? It just doesn't make sense."

"I have no idea." Brick sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "But that's how I feel now. Besides, we're not enemies anymore. We're free to be whatever we want."

Blossom smiled. "You're right." She then turned to Brick and touched his cheek. "Then let's be together."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." With that, the two of them closed their eyes and shared another kiss. As they pulled away, Blossom realized a potential problem.

"How are we gonna break this to the others?"

"Hmm… good question." Brick answered. "I suppose that can wait until after we beat the Abomination, though."

"Yeah, I suppose it can."

*****

Buttercup and Butch were startled awake by the Professor yelling for them to come to the lab. Buttercup panicked a little as she considered how the Professor might react to seeing her and Butch in the same bed. "Dude, you gotta get outta here!" she whispered.

"Why's that?"

"Because my dad's right downstairs!"

"Oh… right…" Butch started to sweat a little, then got an idea. "Don't worry, I got this." He then flew out the window. Soon after, the Professor knocked on the door and Buttercup let him in.

"Where's Butch?"

"Uh, he's…"

"In here, Professor." Butch yelled from the upstairs bathroom. "Oh, I don't feel so good." A disgusted look crept onto the Professor's face.

"Been in there all morning." Buttercup lied. "Must've been something he ate."

"R-right…" the Professor grimaced. "Anyway, I found Blossom!"

Buttercup's eyes lit up. "Really?!"

"Yes! I have the satellite image pulled up in the lab."

Butch exited the bathroom. "Brick, too?"

"Yeah, come see." The three of them went downstairs to the lab and took a look at the Professor's monitor. It looked like Blossom and Brick were arguing about something as usual.

"Way to go, Professor!" Buttercup exclaimed.

"I'll go call Bubbles. Hopefully she can get there before Princess does." Professor Utonium took out a pen, jotted down the coordinates and ran upstairs to get his phone. Buttercup floated there for a moment, worrying about what would happen if Princess beat Bubbles and Boomer to the island. While she was lost in thought, Butch suddenly started laughing.

"Hahaha, I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Buttercup turned to the monitor to see Blossom and Brick kissing. Buttercup's face went blank and her eye started twitching as she tried to process what she was seeing. "Seriously, Blossom?!"

*****

"Got it, Professor! We're on our way!" Bubbles hung up, then typed the coordinates into her phone's GPS. "Alright, Boomer. Let's go." Boomer nodded, then the two of them took off. Fortunately, neither of them saw Princess flying by this morning. It looked like they would arrive first, but they'd have to hurry. The spoiled brat could be right on their tail.

After several minutes, Bubbles and Boomer arrived at the island and touched down. Blossom and Brick were sitting in front of the fire eating some wild fruit, then stood up and turned to see that their blue siblings had come to their rescue. "Bubbles?" Blossom asked.

"Blossom!" Bubbles shouted as she flew straight at Blossom and embraced her.

"Ow! Hey! I don't have my powers!"

"Right, sorry." Bubbles pulled away. "I've missed you so much!"

"Yeah…" Blossom gasped for air as she recovered from Bubbles' near-fatal hug. "Me too."

Boomer turned to Brick and outstretched his arms. "Uh, I'll pass." Brick said. "But yeah, thanks for coming to save us."

"Sure." Boomer lowered his arms. "Anyway, we gotta get going. Princess could be here any minute."

"Princess?" Blossom asked.

"That explosion gave her superpowers and she's on her way here." Bubbles answered. "We have to get going." She approached Blossom to pick her up, but Brick stopped her.

"Hold on! Blossom and I are dead weight without our powers. If Princess attacks you can't fight back while you're carrying us."

"He's right." Blossom agreed, then came to an unfortunate conclusion. "One of you has to stay behind to keep her busy." The group fell silent for a moment before Boomer spoke up.

"I'll do it. I'll fight her."

Bubbles gasped. "Are you sure?! Will you be okay?!"

"It's just Princess. Besides, we don't have time to argue. Just take them and go."

"Okay." Bubbles trembled for a moment, then approached Boomer. "I love you."

"I love you too." Boomer replied as he and Bubbles kissed. Blossom and Brick were taken aback by the sight.

"Can't say I'm surprised." Blossom mumbled to herself.

"Dude, I'm right here!" Brick complained. With that, Bubbles picked up Blossom and Brick and flew north while Boomer stayed and awaited Princess' arrival. After several minutes of awkwardly silent flight, Blossom decided to start up a conversation.

"So… you and Boomer, huh?"

"Yeah…" Bubbles replied dreamily.

"Well, no accounting for taste." Brick quipped.

"I'll drop you!"

"No, don't!" Blossom yelled. Realizing what she said, she tried to backpedal. "He… said he'd help us fight the Abomination."

"Whatever you say, Blossom." Bubbles teased. "Whatever you say." Blossom looked away from Bubbles as her face turned bright red. Brick did the same. Bubbles simply grinned as the awkward silence continued all the way back to Townsville.

*****

Buttercup and Butch sat in the living room watching Spore: The Animated Series while the Professor was in the lab preparing to restore Blossom and Brick's powers once they returned. As Butch enjoyed the show, Buttercup contemplated going out with him. In all honesty, she and him were kindred spirits. It almost made perfect sense for them to be together. She'd wanted to give it a shot, so what was stopping her from saying yes last night?

Honestly, it was probably just having to deal with Blossom. Considering how she freaked out at Boomer giving Bubbles that bracelet, Buttercup figured her leader would give her an earful about Butch, too. But now that Buttercup had something to rub in Blossom's face, there was nothing holding the green Powerpuff Girl back. With that in mind, Buttercup turned to her Rowdyruff counterpart.

"Hey, I thought about what you said last night, and…"

"About you being second-best to me?"

"No, moron! The other thing."

"Oh, right. So…"

"The answer is yes. I'll go out with you."

"Yes!" Butch raised his fist in triumph. "When and where?"

"We'll work it out after we beat the Abomination."

"Fair enough." Butch then turned to Buttercup and put his hand on her shoulder. "How 'bout something to tide me over?"

Buttercup smiled, but remembered that the Professor was in the next room. "Ok, but let's make it quick." she whispered. She turned to him and closed her eyes. As their lips were about to make contact, the front door burst open and they quickly split apart. _Nice timing, Bubbles._ Buttercup and Butch grumbled.

"We're home!" Bubbles shouted. Brick and Blossom were standing right behind her, relieved to finally be home. The Professor ran out of the lab to greet his daughters.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're both okay!" he exclaimed he embraced Blossom and Bubbles. Buttercup also flew in to join the group hug. Finally, the Utonium family was back together. Butch also got up to greet his brother.

"Where's Boomer?" Butch asked.

"He stayed behind to fight Princess. He should be back soon. Anyway, can you restore our powers, Professor?" Brick asked.

"Oh, right. I have everything set up in the lab. Who wants to go first?"

Brick gestured to Blossom. "Ladies first, I guess."

"What a gentleman." Blossom replied sarcastically. The Professor gave both of them a skeptical look before leading Blossom to the lab. Brick took a seat in the living room as Bubbles, Buttercup and Butch filled him in on what had happened in his absence. It was a lot to take in, but Brick was still mostly focused on getting his powers back, and the fact that he hadn't showered in three days.

"Just so you know, you smell like a septic tank." Buttercup pointed out while waving her hand in front of her nose.

"You would know." Brick retorted. "Mind if I…?"

"Please do. Upstairs, second door on the left." As Brick walked up the stairs, Butch flew up next to him.

"By the way, thanks." Butch whispered in his brother's ear. "And congratulations!"

"Uh… sure?" Brick waved Butch away and went to the bathroom.

*****

"Yes! Finally!" Blossom flew out of the Professor's lab once she had her powers back. At the same time, Brick descended the stairs after taking a shower and changing his clothes. The two passed by each other as Blossom went upstairs to do the same. "Your turn, Brick."

"Thanks." Brick replied as he went to the lab. Once Blossom had gotten cleaned up, she joined Butch and her sisters in the living room.

"So, after you disappeared…" Buttercup began.

"The Professor filled me in." Blossom interrupted. "Looks like we'll be going to Mt. Neverest soon. Never thought I'd go there again."

"Brings back memories." Bubbles said sarcastically.

"Memories of what?" Butch asked.

"Like I said, long story." Buttercup said, then her and Bubbles' phones started ringing. "What is it, Mayor?" Buttercup answered. "Uh huh. Seriously? Fine, I'll take care of it." She hung up and shook her head. "The Abomination's about to conquer the world and the Mayor calls us about his pickle jar."

"Who elected that guy?" Blossom asked rhetorically. "Alright, see you soon, Buttercup."

"I can do it." Butch interjected. Feeling a little out of the loop and wanting to avoid awkwardly hanging around Buttercup's sisters, Butch took the opportunity to excuse himself.

"You sure?" Buttercup asked.

"Yeah, I thought you might wanna catch up with your sisters. That, and the Mayor could use a good talking-to."

Blossom grumbled, but then decided she'd rather not hang around Butch, either. "Okay, but go easy on him."

"No promises." Butch flew off to City Hall, leaving the Powerpuff Girls alone together.

"He's being awfully nice to you." Bubbles teased Buttercup.

"Hey, don't drag us all into this just 'cause you hooked up with Boomer." Blossom snapped. "Why are you dating a Rowdyruff Boy anyway?"

"Look who's talking." Bubbles clasped her hands together and began crudely impersonating her pink sister. "'No, Bubbles, don't hurt Brick! He's the love of my life! I couldn't go on without him!'"

"You know I didn't say that!"

"You might as well have." Buttercup mocked.

"Excuse me?"

"The Professor used satellite surveillance to find you. We saw you two kissing on the monitor."

"Ooh, you didn't tell me that!" Bubbles giggled. Blossom's face turned bright red as she buried it in her hands.

"The Professor didn't see that, did he?" she asked weakly.

"Nah, just me. And Butch." Buttercup replied. Blossom gagged as her sisters continued talking.

"So, is there anything going on between you and Butch?" Bubbles eagerly asked Buttercup.

"He asked me out. I said yes. No big deal." Buttercup replied. Bubbles squeed as Blossom shook her head at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

"Why are we talking about this? Shouldn't we be preparing to go against the Abomination?"

"Gotta pass the time while we wait for Boomer." Buttercup replied. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

"Ooh, that must be him!" Bubbles shouted as she flew straight to the front door. Her sisters followed. They opened the door to find that she was only half right.

Bubbles gasped as she and her sisters saw Princess Morbucks standing in front of them with her arms folded and her foot on Boomer's chest. The Rowdyruff Boy was lying motionless on the ground with his eyes closed. Bubbles started to tremble while Blossom and Buttercup scowled at the fake Powerpuff Girl.

"Ah, Blossom, you made it back." Princess said.

"What are you doing here, Princess?" Blossom demanded.

"I'm glad you asked…"


	13. Chapter 13

Princess Morbucks was in the Mexican countryside practicing with her powers when she received a text from her father. She dropped the boulder she was lifting and pulled up her phone to read it.

Found Blossom

26°37'40.3"N 88°11'43.0"W

"Finally!" Princess typed the coordinates into her phone's GPS and began flying out to the gulf. After about ten minutes she arrived at the island to find nothing but a smoldering fire pit. "Blossom? Brick?" she yelled. Her response came in the form of a blue laser coming from the brush, which she barely managed to dodge.

"On their way back to Townsville." someone called out to her. "You're dealing with me now!" Boomer then emerged from behind a tree to confront Princess.

"Rowdyruff scum! You followed me here, didn't you?!"

"We did. What're you gonna do about it?" Boomer taunted. Princess fumed as she assessed the situation. Apparently Boomer and Butch had come here to save their brother. Butch must've carried Brick back while Boomer stayed behind to distract Princess. But why would the Rowdyruff Boys help Blossom? Princess could worry about that later. Boomer was an immediate threat and had to be taken care of.

"Let me show you!" Princess blasted her yellow laser at him, and he countered with a blue one. The two beams pushed against each other as Princess and Boomer struggled to overpower one another. Eventually Boomer emerged victorious and sent Princess flying into a tree. He quickly flew at her and grabbed her by the face, then slammed the back of her head against the tree trunk. Before he could get in a second blow, Princess set off her laser eyes, forcing Boomer to let her go as he screamed in pain. While he rubbed his hand, she took the chance to kick him across the beach. Boomer landed next to the fire pit. Princess approached him for another attack, but Boomer grabbed some cinders from the fire and threw them at her face. Princess tried to rub them out of her eyes while Boomer took advantage of her temporary blindness by flying up close and kicking her into another tree.

"No fair!" Princess shouted as she wiped the last of the cinders off her face.

"What can I say? I fight dirty." Boomer retorted. He then flew upwards and began shooting lasers at Princess from above. Unfortunately for him, Princess managed to dodge them and shot a few of her own back at him. While he dodged her yellow lasers, Princess flew up close and punched him in the stomach. She threw another punch, but before she could land it, Boomer grabbed both her hands and the two struggled against each other. During the struggle, Boomer headbutted Princess and she fell to the ground, though he had to take a second to recover from hitting his head on her solid gold crown. During that brief moment, Princess figured out how to beat him.

Boomer landed next to Princess and conjured an energy sword, preparing to deliver the final blow. But before he could, she turned to face him and touched both her index fingers to the gem of her crown, projecting a telekinetic ray at Boomer. Princess focused the purple beam on his neck and tightened her grip. Boomer struggled to break free, but to no avail. After about a minute, he suffocated and collapsed.

"How's that for fighting dirty?!" Princess yelled. She walked up to Boomer and kicked him to make sure he was down. Reassured of her victory, she used her tractor beam to pick up Boomer and carry him back to Townsville.

*****

"So, I've been thinking. Now that I have super powers, and experience fighting criminals…" Princess gestured to Boomer lying beneath her foot.

"Don't say it…" Buttercup mumbled.

"…You'll have to make me a Powerpuff Girl!"

"You're… not…" Blossom began, but Princess didn't listen and continued talking.

"It'll be perfect! We'll hunt down this lowlife's brothers, then we can go fight the Abomination and save the world. Then everyone will love me for how great I am! So what do you say, fellow Powerpuff Girls?"

While Blossom and Buttercup froze up from Princess' sheer audacity, Bubbles punched her in the face.

*****

Butch crashed through the roof of City Hall and entered the Mayor's office. As he approached the desk, he was greeted by Townsville's bumbling civic leader. "Hey there, Buttercup! You know the… wait, what'd you do with your hair?"

Butch scowled at the Mayor and picked up the pickle jar. He twisted the lid off, then threw it at the wall behind the Mayor's chair, embedding it into the plaster. Butch slammed the opened jar onto the desk and floated up close to the Mayor's face. "Don't call us unless it's important!" he warned the Mayor before flying back to the Utonium house.

"I'm not sure I like Buttercup's new attitude…" the Mayor said to himself.

*****

"Ow! What the heck was that for?!" Princess yelled once she recovered. She then saw Bubbles clutching Boomer and sobbing while Blossom and Buttercup scowled at her.

"In case it wasn't obvious, the answer is no." Blossom said to Princess. "Powerpuff Girls don't attack their allies."

"What?!" Princess responded. As if on cue, Brick exited the front door.

"Alright, I got my… what's going on here?" He saw Bubbles holding Boomer and Princess arguing with Blossom. It was obvious what the spoiled brat had done. "Oh, you're dead, Princess!"

"Super dead!" Butch added as he landed behind the fake Powerpuff Girl. He and Brick raised their fists and prepared to avenge their brother, but Blossom gestured for them to hold off.

"Okay, what's wrong with this picture?" Princess demanded. "Since when were the Rowdyruff Boys your allies?"

"Since they saved us from you and your bandmates." Blossom replied.

"You mean that wolf was…" Princess had to take a second to process the revelation. "Well, what about me? I just spent two days and who-knows-how-much of Daddy's money trying to rescue you! It's not my fault these jerkwads got there first and stole the glory!"

Blossom fell silent. Was that what Princess was doing? Was she telling the truth? While Blossom thought about it, Brick answered for her. "Yeah, right! You expect us to believe that after you tried to kill her just three days ago?"

"What do you care?! And why would you save them?! It's not like…" Princess then looked around to see Brick standing next to Blossom, Butch standing next to Buttercup, and Bubbles still crying over Boomer. "Ah, I get it. Now I see what HIM was so worried about. Alright, I won't be a third wheel, then." She then turned to Bubbles. "And quit blubbering. I didn't kill him." With that, Princess took flight, clasping her hands and making kissy-faces at the heroes as she left.

"Man, she's annoying." Butch griped.

"And such a liar." Buttercup added. "Hey, Blossom, what should we do about her?"

"Just let her go for now. We have other things to take care of." Blossom gestured to Boomer. Brick walked over to him, then waved Bubbles away and checked Boomer's pulse.

"He's alive. Just give him some time to recover." Brick and Bubbles each breathed a sigh of relief.

*****

Boomer awoke on the couch in the Powerpuff Girls' living room, his neck still a bit sore from Princess' stranglehold. He turned to see Bubbles sitting next to him. It looked like she'd been crying her eyes out. Boomer thought for a second and managed to put two and two together. "I lost, didn't I?"

"Only 'cause Princess cheated." Bubbles answered, then turned to hide her face. "I thought you were…" she began before choking up. Boomer put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay." he assured her. "I won't scare you like that again. I promise."

Bubbles turned around to hug Boomer and bury her face in his chest. "You'd better not." she sobbed. Boomer hugged her back. Once they eventually pulled apart, he looked around to see Blossom, Brick, Buttercup and Butch standing around them. Boomer cleared his throat and made an announcement.

"Okay, everyone, listen up! I love Bubbles, and she loves me. If you've got a problem with that, then you'll just have to deal with it!" Bubbles smiled while an awkward silence befell the rest of the team. Butch eventually broke it.

"And in other news, water is wet. Anyone got another bombshell?"

"I hope the Professor didn't hear that…" Blossom said.

"Oh, speaking of that, he asked me to bring you all down to the lab." Brick interjected. "Let's go!" He gestured for his teammates to follow him as he opened the labroom door.

*****

Professor Utonium emerged from the lab's inner chamber to greet his daughters and their new allies. "Oh, Boomer, when'd you get here?"

"Couple minutes ago."

"I brought them here like you asked, Professor." Brick said. "Whatcha got for us?"

"Thanks, Brick." _Never thought I'd say that._ The Professor thought as he opened up a storage closet to reveal six metallic jumpsuits. "I've studied the news footage of the Abomination's attack and I've developed these special super-suits for you kids to use. They're designed to prevent your powers from being drained and should provide additional protection from Chemical X-based attacks while enhancing your own. They're also quite stylish, I might add."

"Sure they are, Professor." Bubbles replied under her breath.

"Also, bear in mind that the Abomination is actually a combination of three Chemical X-powered beings, not unlike your Furious Flaming Feline technique. The difference is that while the Feline can only be maintained for a short time, the Abomination can somehow stay together indefinitely. Regardless, a large enough dose of Antidote X should split it apart. Hard to say what effect it'll have on HIM, but without Mojo or Fuzzy it can't stay combined." He gestured to several syringes of Antidote X on the counter. "You'll be using these. They can also depower Princess and the Gangreen Gang if they give you any trouble."

"Thanks, Professor." Blossom said.

"Lastly, if the suits or syringes are damaged, I've put some spares in the storage compartment of the Dynamo."

"Oh no, not that thing." Buttercup complained.

"What's the Dynamo?" Brick asked.

"I'll show you." Professor Utonium led the six heroes through the inner chamber to the Dynamo's underground hangar. He turned on the lights to show them the large mechanical exo-suit he'd built years ago to protect his daughters. While the Powerpuff Girls grumbled at the idea of using this monstrosity again, the Rowdyruff Boys stood in awe of the wondrous combat machine in front of them.

"You… have a… giant… robot… suit…" Boomer stammered.

"Why have you girls kept this from us?" Brick asked semi-rhetorically.

"I think I'm in love." Butch said dreamily. The Powerpuff Girls shook their heads and rolled their eyes while the Professor smiled, satisfied that someone finally appreciated the Dynamo.

"You know the Mayor banned this thing, Professor." Blossom reminded him. "Why do you even still have it?"

"Technically it's only banned for use in Townsville." the Professor replied. "Look, Mt. Neverest is crawling with battle robots. The Dynamo is your only chance of getting rid of them."

"We'll take it if you don't want it!" Brick said to Blossom on behalf of his brothers. Blossom sighed in response.

What do I see in you? Blossom wondered before relenting to the Professor. "Okay, we'll use it. I suppose we need all the help we can get, anyway. Everyone, get ready for battle!"

*****

After a few minutes, the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys suited up and took their seats in the Dynamo's cockpit. "All systems are go." Blossom said. "Engage!"

"Copy that." the Professor replied over the intercom. He then opened the roof of the hangar and raised the docking platform to ground level. "Now go save the world!" With that, the Dynamo lifted off and flew to Mt. Neverest.


	14. Chapter 14

The Abomination's robot army had gathered at the base of Mt. Neverest. The Abomination finally had a big enough army to proceed with the next phase of its plan for world domination. A signal was sent out from the throne room to the robots to advance on a neighboring country. It would be the first global superpower to fall.

As the army marched northward, a large metal sphere suddenly fell from the sky and crushed several robots. It then floated up from the ground and uncurled into the Powerpuff Dynamo. The robots readied their boomsticks and shot at the Dynamo, only for their bullets to bounce off its titanium armor plating. The Dynamo retaliated with a giant laser blast from its eyes, vaporizing more robots. Then it stomped on the ones in front of it. As more of the Abomination's army shot in vain at the Powerpuff Girls' exo-suit, the Dynamo opened up numerous missile ports all over its body and shot missiles in all directions, blowing up most of the robots.

*****

"This is so awesome!" Brick shouted as he fired more of the Dynamo's weapons at the Abomination's robots.

"Give them everything we've got!" Blossom ordered from the captain's chair. "How many more bogeys?"

"Too many to count!" Buttercup replied. She and Butch had been assigned to monitor duty.

"Ugh, this is so boring!" Butch complained. "How come Brick gets to be gunner?!"

"Maybe 'cause he's dating the captain." Bubbles joked from the communications chair. A chill ran down Brick's spine upon hearing that.

"Hey, what makes you think…?"

"They know, Brick." Blossom sighed. "Apparently we're satellite TV stars."

"More like kiss cam stars." Butch added.

"Oh, come on!" Brick shouted. "Such an invasion of privacy."

"Forget it! Everyone focus on the mission!" Blossom ordered. "Boomer, bring us closer to Mt. Neverest."

"Roger that, Brick's girlfriend." Boomer replied from the pilot's seat. Blossom and Brick both glared at him. "I mean, captain." Boomer steered the Dynamo toward the Abomination's lair, stomping on more robots as it advanced.

*****

"What's the problem?" The Abomination asked Ace after climbing up to the lair's observatory.

"That!" Ace pointed to the Dynamo tearing through the robot army.

"So it would appear that the leaders of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys were successful in escaping their entrapment on a desolate island which I previously imagined to be inescapable." The Abomination turned to its minions. "Await them at the front entrance."

"You expect us to take on that thing?!" Ace shouted.

"No, I don't." The Abomination began charging its laser and took aim at the Dynamo.

*****

"What the heck is that?!" Butch yelled. The team checked the viewing screen to see a big red laser coming straight at them.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Blossom ordered.

"Aye-aye, captain!" Boomer replied as he activated the Dynamo's thrusters and flew out of the way. He managed to dodge the laser, but several more lasers immediately followed. Boomer was unable to evade all of them and the Dynamo was eventually hit straight through the torso.

"It's gonna blow!" Buttercup shouted.

*****

The Abomination's robots crowded around the Dynamo after it was struck. It began going haywire, then its torso exploded. The robots moved in to observe the wreckage.

Once the dust cleared, the army was faced with the Furious Flaming Feline and the Crushing Cold Canine. The Feline was first to attack. It pounced onto the nearest robot and clawed it in half. Then it shot a blast of fire at the next one, causing it to explode, which in turn set the surrounding robots' boas on fire and blew them up as well.

Meanwhile, the Canine blasted ice at several robots and froze them solid. Then it bashed into them and they shattered. It continued its attack by tackling the next robot and tearing its head off with its icy fangs, then throwing it straight through the next robot's torso, breaking it.

The two elemental beasts made short work of the robot army. With their enemies defeated, both of them ran straight up the mountainside. Once they arrived in front of the Abomination's front door, the Feline roared and the Canine howled before they separated into the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys.

"Yeah! Good riddance!" Buttercup shouted, celebrating the Dynamo's destruction. Her sisters cheered in agreement, then all three Powerpuff Girls turned to the Boys. Brick had removed his cap and the three of them bowed their heads and placed their right hands over their hearts.

"A moment of silence for the Powerpuff Dynamo." Brick said to his teammates. Boomer and Butch remained still while Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup groaned.

"Typical boys." Blossom commented.

"Well, we fell for them." Bubbles reminded her sister.

"Alright, moment over. Let's go take down the Abomination." Brick put his cap back on and turned to open the front door.

*****

The Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys entered the foyer and were greeted by the Super Gangreen Gang and several more of the Abomination's robots. "Hey there, boys and girls. Welcome to the top o' the world." Ace said.

"Where's the Abomination?!" Brick demanded.

"I'm not good enough for ya? I'm hurt." Ace replied sarcastically.

"Why are you even working for it, anyway?" Blossom asked. "Since when did you lowlives care about ruling the world?"

"Sssince we got our sssuper powersss back." Snake replied. "You don't ssstand a chance now!"

"Wanna bet?!" Buttercup retorted. Grubber blew a raspberry at her while the rest of the Gangreen Gang laughed.

"Enough! Get 'em, boys!" At Ace's command, the Gangreen Gang and the Abomination's robots began their attack.

"Guess we're doing this the hard way." Brick flew straight at the nearest robot and punched it out, then blasted another one with his laser eyes. As he was about to blast a third one, Li'l Arturo snuck up from behind and punched him in the back of the head. Brick turned to hit him back, but Arturo was too fast. The speedster simply ran behind Brick and punched the red Rowdyruff Boy again at full speed. Arturo got in a few more blows before Blossom intervened by using her ice breath to freeze the ground in front of him, causing him to slip and fly face-first into Brick's fist. With Li'l Arturo out cold, Blossom and Brick smiled at each other, then got back to fighting.

Bubbles flew between two robots. Each robot readied it's boomstick and aimed at the blue Powerpuff Girl. Just before they fired, Bubbles sped out of the way, causing the robots to shoot each other and explode. Bubbles stood still for a moment to giggle at them when Big Billy took the chance to fall on her. Boomer noticed the living rock about to crush Bubbles and sprang into action. He conjured a large energy hammer and swung it at Big Billy just before he could land on Bubbles, slamming him into the wall and rendering him unconscious.

Upon seeing Boomer swinging a big yellow hammer around, Buttercup paused and felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. Ever the opportunist, Grubber took advantage of her momentary distraction to blast her with a sonic belch, but Butch flew between him and Buttercup and put up his shield to protect her. "Can't have you dying before our date." he joked. Buttercup smirked at Butch, then when Grubber stopped to take a breath, Buttercup flew straight at the unintelligible thug and knocked him out with a flurry of kicks and punches.

Before long all of the robots had been taken care of, and the only members of the Gangreen Gang left were Ace and Snake. Blossom led the Powerpuff Girls to attack Snake while Brick and his brothers went after Ace. Snake stretched his arm at Buttercup and tried to entangle her, but Bubbles attacked him from behind, which he dodged by slipping out of the way and winding around a pillar. He shifted focus to Bubbles and nearly grabbed her, but Blossom used the distraction to blast Snake with her ice breath, freezing him solid.

Brick began his attack on Ace by shooting his fiery breath at the Gangreen Gang's leader. Ace countered with a blast of ice, which Brick had apparently underestimated. He was used to dealing with Blossom's ice breath, but Ace's cryokinetic powers were far stronger and easily overpowered Brick, freezing the red Rowdyruff Boy's mouth. Ace then used his powers to create two ice swords and hit Brick on the head with one of them, stunning the boy. Butch attacked next only for Ace to conjure a huge chunk of ice right above him and crush him. Boomer, being the only Rowdyruff Boy still in the fight, conjured his own sword and engaged in a duel with Ace. After several swings, Ace disarmed Boomer and was about to deliver the final stab.

Suddenly, Ace was surrounded by a purple aura and immobilized. Boomer looked behind his opponent to see that Princess Morbucks, who for some reason was wearing one of the spare super-suits, had ensnared Ace in her telekinetic grip. She then flung him upwards at full force and slammed his head through the ceiling, knocking him out and leaving his unconscious body dangling there. Princess then fell to her knees and began panting heavily to catch her breath.

_Perfect!_ Boomer thought as he reconjured his sword and approached Princess to take his revenge, but Blossom flew between them and gestured for Boomer to stop.

"Go help your brothers." Blossom ordered. "I'll handle her." Boomer begrudgingly complied and broke the ice around Brick's mouth, who then used his fire breath to thaw the ice boulder on top of Butch. As they, Bubbles and Buttercup administered Antidote X to the Gangreen Gang, Blossom began interrogating Princess. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Princess recovered and stood up. "I'm here to save the world. Oh, and I borrowed one of your extra suits. Hope you don't mind."

The rest of the heroes gathered the unconscious and depowered Gangreen Gang in the center of the room, then floated over to confront Princess. "How'd you know about those?" Brick asked.

"And how'd you know to find us here?" Buttercup added.

"The answer to both is under his collar." she replied pointing at Boomer. He checked the collar of his shirt in response. He found a small bugging device that looked like Princess' crown underneath it. He grumbled, then dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. Princess didn't seem to care.

"I still haven't forgotten what you did to him." Bubbles reminded her.

"Yeah, well, your boyfriends there froze me solid and left me to die in that explosion." she replied, gesturing to the Rowdyruff Boys. "We'll call it even."

"That was 'cause you tried to kill the Girls!" Brick retorted.

"You try saying no to HIM sometime."

"We did. Years ago." Butch responded.

"Well, try it without having super powers." Princess was getting sick of arguing. "Look, I was serious about wanting to stop the Abomination." She turned to Blossom. "You said you needed all the help you could get, didn't you?"

The Powerpuff Girls' leader thought for a moment. "Okay, we'll let you join us." The rest of the group stared at her in shock. "But just for now."

"Alright! Let's go save the world, fellow superheroes!" Princess then took point and headed further into the Abomination's lair. Bubbles, Boomer, Buttercup and Butch reluctantly followed while Brick stayed back to talk to Blossom.

"You sure about her? I mean, I trust you, but…"

"Something tells me she's being honest this time. And if not, I have a backup plan."

"What's that?"

"The Professor rigged you and your brothers' suits, as well as the spare suits, with Antidote X." She then pointed to a button on her wrist. "One touch and I can zap her powers."

"What?! Why doesn't he trust us? We're not villains anymore."

"It's not 'cause you're ex-villains." Blossom smiled at him. "It's 'cause you're boys."

"Well that's not fair." Brick smiled back. Without thinking, the two of them began drifting closer to each other.

"Hey, if you two are done making out, we've got a world to save." Butch shouted to them. After their faces turned red for a moment, Blossom and Brick joined their teammates and prepared for the final battle.


	15. Chapter 15

The Powerpuff Girls, the Rowdyruff Boys and Princess Morbucks all approached the door to the Abomination's throne room. Blossom and Brick each took hold of the door handles. This was it, the final battle with the most powerful villain they'd ever faced. Their enemy had beaten them before, but this time they were prepared for it. This time the six heroes would save the world. Well, seven, assuming Princess could be trusted. Blossom made sure to keep a close eye on her, prepared to neutralize her should she try anything funny.

"Everyone ready?" Brick asked the team.

"Ready!" the others responded in unison.

"Let's do this!" Blossom shouted, then pulled the right door open while Brick got the left one. The heroes entered the enormous throne room to find the Abomination slouching on the throne and strumming an oversized banjo. The villain slowly stood up to greet its uninvited guests.

"Hello, boys and girls. Glad you could make it. I must say, those new suits of yours are simply hideous."

"Hideous, but functional." Blossom retorted.

"Speak for yourself." Princess held up her hands, which she was forced to keep balled into fists in order to fit in the suit. "These weren't designed for people with fingers."

"Another traitor, I see. Must be that whole teenage rebellion thing." The Abomination shook its head. "What ever shall I do with you kids?"

"Ooh, you could trap us on an island." Bubbles replied sarcastically. "It worked so well last time."

"Or how 'bout sending more monsters after us?" Butch said. "Actually, that sounds kinda fun. Do that!"

"No, wait, send more robots." Buttercup added. "I love smashing those things."

As the superheroes continued mocking the Abomination's failed plans, it tossed its banjo aside and stood up, grumbling in anger. Though the villain wouldn't admit it, the heroes were right. Its plans for dealing with them had thus far been messy and poorly thought out. One would think the combined brain power of three minds would avoid such pitfalls, but Mojo's shortsightedness, HIM's penchant for dramatics and Fuzzy's sheer stupidity kept bogging it down. Of course, the Abomination was still immensely powerful. This time, it would simply destroy the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys, along with that treacherous Princess. No more fooling around.

Without saying a word, the Abomination opened its claw and lashed its tentacle at the heroes. Most of the team flew out of the way, but Buttercup was too slow to dodge and was ensnared by the attack. The Abomination attempted to electrocute Buttercup and drain her Chemical X, but the attack didn't affect her.

"What the…?" The Abomination was cut off when Butch flew up and punched it in the face. Brick then burned its tentacle with his fire breath, forcing it to retract and let go of Buttercup.

"Well, whaddya know? The suit does work!" Buttercup then joined up with the other heroes. All seven of them combined their lasers into one and shot the Abomination. The villain put up its claw and countered with its own laser, only to be forced back through the wall and thrust outside the lair. The heroes flew outside through the hole they'd made and saw the Abomination falling off the mountain. Partway through the fall, it caught itself and flew back up to the top of Mt. Neverest.

"It can fly?!" Boomer shouted.

"Right… Chemical X powers…" Blossom mumbled. The Abomination then grew to twice its usual size and snapped its fingers to summon bolts of lightning from the sky. The superheroes were quick enough to dodge them, but were forced to scatter around. Butch put up his shield to block the lightning and flew straight at the back of the Abomination's head. He pulled out his Antidote X syringe and tried to inject the Abomination with it, but its skin was too tough and the syringe simply snapped. As Butch stared at it in confusion and worry, the evildoer reached behind with its tentacle and grabbed him, then threw him into the mountainside.

Buttercup joined with Bubbles and Boomer and the three of them fired their lasers at the Abomination's torso, causing the villain to flinch but failing to do any significant damage. The Abomination shot its own laser at the three heroes, striking Bubbles and knocking her out of the sky. Boomer scowled and bared his teeth at the Abomination. He flew to the top of a nearby mountain and broke off the peak, then threw it at his enemy in hopes of avenging his girlfriend. The Abomination caught the giant rock with its tentacle and threw it back at Boomer, sending him down to join Bubbles. It then turned its attention to Buttercup.

"So, it is a rock-throwing competition you children desire?" The Abomination stretched out its arms, and in response, the peaks of all the nearby mountains broke off and started floating around the evildoer. "Two players are capable of participating in that game." It began pelting boulders at Buttercup. The green Powerpuff Girl managed to dodge several of them, but was struck by a bolt of lightning and fell to the ground. The Abomination threw more rocks at Blossom, Brick and Princess. Brick was hit first and flung back into the Abomination's lair. Princess used her tractor beam to grab one of the boulders and used it to deflect the others. While she succeeded in blocking the boulders, the Abomination took advantage of the distraction and blasted her with its laser. Both Princess and Blossom were knocked back into the lair to join Brick.

"We're not getting anywhere." Princess complained to the team leaders as she dusted herself off. "You guys have any ideas?"

"That combined laser of ours did some damage." Brick replied. "We just need to stay together long enough to use it."

"How can we do that if we keep getting knocked every which way?" Princess asked.

Blossom thought about it. She remembered what the Professor told them, that their enemy was a combination of three Chemical X-powered beings. Perhaps the best strategy would be to fight fire with fire. Blossom doubted that the Furious Flaming Feline or the Boys' Crushing Cold Canine would be of any use, but maybe, just maybe… "We're gonna combine! All seven of us!"

Brick smiled approvingly. "Yeah, let's do it!"

"Seven?" Princess fell silent for a moment. "But I've never… you sure about this?"

"Just follow my lead." Blossom led Brick and Princess outside to see that the others had recovered and were desperately evading more of the Abomination's attacks. Blossom shouted a command to the whole team. "Everyone retreat!"

"What?!" Butch complained.

"Just do it!" Brick yelled to his brother. With that the entire team flew away from Mt. Neverest. The Abomination watched them retreat and let out an evil laugh at its apparent victory.

"That'll teach ya t' mess with… mah… property?" It stopped gloating when it saw the seven super-children flying back at it in a V formation. The heroes began to glow and transformed into spheres of white light, then merged into one. Their fusion created an immense flash of light, prompting the Abomination to shield its eyes. When it dropped its arm, the villain stared in shock at its enemies' combined form.

Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Brick, Boomer, Butch and Princess had fused into an enormous dragon. Its feathered wings spanned fifty feet, and it shined with an ethereal golden light. The dragon roared at the Abomination, then blasted a beam of white light from its mouth straight at it. The Abomination tried to counter with its own laser, but was hopelessly outmatched and struck by the dragon's attack, which knocked the evildoer several miles back into the side of a mountain. The dragon followed up by flying straight at its foe and baring its fangs. The Abomination dodged and the dragon slammed into the mountainside. Taking advantage of the missed attack, the Abomination outstretched its arms and levitated more boulders. It then pelted them at the dragon, but the dragon countered with a sonic roar. The sheer force of the roar crumbled the boulders to dust. The Abomination covered its ears and screamed in agony.

"Gah! You brats!" The Abomination turned and flew out of the mountain range. The dragon stopped roaring and gave chase. After about a minute the two superbeings flew above a large city and the Abomination abruptly halted mid-flight. It then conjured more lightning and blasted the dragon, but the attack did nothing. The Abomination then turned its attention to the people below, who were screaming and running for their lives. It then got an idea. The villain raised its claw and summoned a storm cloud above the city.

"Surrender now or I destroy…" Before the Abomination could finish its threat, the dragon extended its clawed hand and the Abomination was immobilized by telekinesis. The dragon telekinetically slammed its enemy into the pavement below, then picked it up and slammed it down a few more times, eventually letting go and dropping it. As the Abomination was lying prone on the ground, the dragon flew down on top of it and pinned it to the earth. It then began charging its breath weapon, preparing to blast the villain's head clean off. Left with no other options, the Abomination desperately extended its tentacle and tried to absorb the dragon's Chemical X. And it worked!

The dragon roared in pain as it was being electrocuted and drained. Evidently the Professor's super suits were ineffective in this combined form. The Abomination slowly stood up as it continued absorbing Chemical X from the dragon. After a solid minute of torment, the dragon was forced to split up. Princess and the Rowdyruff Boys appeared as the dragon faded away, but the Powerpuff Girls were nowhere to be seen.

"It absorbed the Girls!" Princess shouted.

"Bubbles…" Boomer whispered. Butch simply scowled at the Abomination.

"Hahahaha! You can't possibly win, now that your precious girlfriends are…" All of a sudden, the Abomination winced and clutched its stomach, then fell to the ground and started convulsing.

"Alright, Blossom." Brick said. "You'd better come back alive."

*****

After being absorbed by the Abomination, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup found themselves floating in a dark void. They looked around and saw Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins and HIM floating around as well. The Girls hovered over to face the villains.

"Just as I thought." Blossom said. "Now we're part of the Abomination."

"This is not good." Mojo said. "Our combined form was not intended to exist with three extra components, and now that we have three extra components, it will be too unstable to exist for an extended period of time."

"Then we's just gonna hafta git rid of 'em!" Fuzzy readied his boomstick.

"Let's see you try it!" Buttercup raised her fists.

"Silly Powerpuff Girls." HIM taunted. "We have Chemical X powers too, now. All thanks to those little boy toys of yours."

"In that case…" Bubbles produced a syringe from her power suit. "Eat Antidote X!" Her sisters followed suit and flew straight at their foes.

Blossom went after Mojo Jojo. The sinister simian blasted her with a brain pulse, but Blossom was too quick for him. She outmaneuvered Mojo and exhaled her ice breath at him. He countered using his laser eyes, but the resulting steam cloud provided just the cover Blossom needed to sneak up behind Mojo and stick him with her syringe, taking away his powers.

Fuzzy took a few shots at Buttercup, but the bullets simply bounced off of her. Frustrated with his useless gun, he tossed it aside and instead shot her with pink lasers. His aim was impeccable, but Buttercup's power suit allowed her to simply tank the damage as she flew straight at the disgruntled hillbilly. Once she was up close, the two exchanged punches until Buttercup landed an uppercut to Fuzzy's jaw, stunning him just long enough to inject him with Antidote X.

Bubbles was left to deal with HIM. She flew directly at the dark one and tried to stick him, only for him to disappear into the darkness before she could make contact. He reappeared behind her and took a swipe with his claw, which she barely dodged. When she turned around to retaliate, he faded away again. Bubbles then remembered a trick she learned from her bat friends. She closed her eyes and emitted a supersonic noise. Then, using her super-hearing, picked up the echo off of HIM's body. She quickly threw the Antidote X syringe in his direction, hitting the cruelest of cruel square in the chest, turning him visible and neutralizing the Chemical X in his body.

Once all three villains were injected, the darkness around them and the Powerpuff Girls began to fade to white, and the Girls started to see glimpses of the city outside. "Just like the Professor told us." Blossom said. "Enough Antidote X and the Abomination can't stay together."

*****

The Abomination's convulsions were getting more and more intense, then it started sparking with small white energy bolts. Having first hand knowledge of what would come next, Brick shouted to Princess and his brothers. "This thing's gonna explode!" He looked around and was reminded that they were still in a populated area. "We have to contain it!"

"How?!" Boomer asked.

"Butch, project your forcefield around it." Brick ordered.

"Are you insane?!"

"It's all we've got." He turned to Boomer and Princess. "Let's help him out." At Brick's command, the four of them each landed next to the Abomination. Butch then shot a green laser at Boomer, who caught it and shot his own blue laser at Brick. The leader then shot his red laser at Princess, then she shot her yellow laser back at Butch to complete the circuit. The team's laser beams formed a ring encircling the Abomination and allowed Butch to borrow his teammates' energy. With all their combined might, Butch conjured a forcefield within the laser ring.

The Abomination trembled and screamed in pain as beams of white light shot out from its body. Soon after, its entire body began to glow, then it slowly exploded in a burst of white light. Princess and the Rowdyruff Boys used all their power to maintain the forcefield, but only managed to keep it up for a short while before it broke. While the explosion only did minimal damage to the nearby area, the force of it stunned the heroes and knocked them back. When they came to, they saw Mojo Jojo and Fuzzy Lumpkins' unconscious bodies lying on the pavement, and the three Powerpuff Girls floating above them unharmed.

The first thing Boomer did was fly straight at Bubbles and hug her. "You're okay!" he shouted before kissing her repeatedly. Blossom paid them no mind and floated over to Brick.

"Looks like my plan worked. You weren't worried about me, were you?"

"No." Brick replied. He then noticed Blossom smirking at him. "Err, maybe a little." Blossom shook her head, then the two of them embraced each other and kissed.

Buttercup and Butch floated up to each other. Butch was the first to speak. "So, now that the Abomination's gone, how 'bout Saturday at noon?" he asked while avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah, sure…" Buttercup replied, also avoiding eye contact as they awkwardly floated there for a moment. "Oh, the heck with it!" Buttercup pulled Butch in and kissed him on the lips, which Butch happily returned.

Princess cringed at the sight of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys making out. _Ugh, I'm never gonna get used to that._ She then looked around and noticed someone missing. "Hey, where's…" As if on cue, a red haze fell over the area. The seven super-children turned to see HIM slowly manifest in front of them.

"Thank you so much, boys and girls." the infernal one said. "You have no idea what it's like working with those incompetent morons."

"Oh, please!" Princess retorted. "You arranged that stupid reunion in the first place. Just admit you lost again."

HIM scowled at Princess. "Opportunistic traitor!" He then turned to the others. "Looks like I'll need other minions to deal with you girls."

"You can't have them back!" Bubbles shouted at HIM while clutching Boomer.

"Oh, don't worry, little Bubbles. I don't need weapons that fall in love with their targets." HIM smiled an evil smile. "But perhaps you might still be of use to me. Until then, all of you watch your backs." With that, HIM disappeared, only to reappear seconds later. "And take these simpletons back with you. I don't need them stinking up my dimension." He conjured a dark portal, out of which fell all of the AWSM heroes. Then HIM finally disappeared for real.

Major Glory was the first to get up. "Oh, hello, Sugarpuff Gals." The Powerpuff Girls glared at him in response. "Now go run along and play. We'll take care of things from here."

Blossom grumbled as she picked up Mojo Jojo's unconscious body. "Princess, grab Fuzzy and follow me. The rest of you, go get the Gangreen Gang and meet us at Townsville Jail." With that, Princess picked up Fuzzy with her tractor beam and the others flew back to Mt. Neverest.

"What's with those fatheads?" Princess asked Blossom.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

*****

"Curse those accursed Powerpuff Girls! I, Mojo Jojo, was within close proximity of fulfilling my lifelong ambition of obtaining dominion over the entire world. And curse those equally accursed Rowdyruff Boys for having betrayed me, their creator, for the girls they were created by me to eliminate!" The mad chimpanzee rambled while sitting in his jail cell.

"Ah, shaddup, Mojo!" Fuzzy yelled from his own cell across the hallway. "This is all yer fault!"

"Honestly, what were you and HIM thinking?" Sedusa asked, backing up Fuzzy. "You created male versions of the Powerpuff Girls and you didn't expect that to happen? You just don't understand people."

"Look who's talkin'." Ace took a shot at Sedusa, then turned to the others. "So now what? We ain't never gonna beat the Girls now."

"What do you mean 'now'?" Princess floated down the hallway between the villains' cells. She was supposed to serve time for her part on the Beat-Alls reunion, but as usual, her father bailed her out. As she was being escorted out of jail by a guard, she took the opportunity to tell the other villains off. "You nitwits never stood a chance. If life has taught me anything, it's that no one can defeat the Powerpuff Girls. Especially not you." With that, she and the guard left for the lobby.

"Where are you going?" Mojo asked.

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

*****

The Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys waited in the lobby of Townsville Jail. Blossom and Brick gave their account of the battle to the Chief of Police while the rest of the team sat around waiting. For Bubbles and Buttercup, this was always the most boring part of saving the day, but now they at least had Boomer and Butch to keep them company. Once the red heroes finished up with the Chief, they went to talk to their siblings.

"Are you done?" Buttercup asked. "Can we go home now?"

"Not yet." Blossom answered. "We still have one thing to take care of." Seconds later, Princess and a guard entered the lobby. Blossom turned to her. "Alright, Princess. What'd you want to talk about?" _As if I don't already know._

"Well, I was thinking. Not only do I have super powers, but I just helped you save the world from the Abomination. And apparently you're letting former villains on the team." Princess gestured to the Rowdyruff Boys. "So now can I be a Powerpuff Girl?"

"Is that the only reason you helped us?" Bubbles asked.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Buttercup complained.

"Well, what's your answer?" Princess demanded.

Blossom thought for a second. "Team huddle." In response to her command, she, her sisters and the Rowdyruff Boys all huddled together. "Okay, everyone, what do you think?"

"No way! Not after what she did to me!" Boomer replied while rubbing his throat.

"Yeah, I'm with Boomer." Bubbles added.

"Well, technically, you attacked first." Brick reminded his brother. "And she only did it because she thought you were the enemy. A week ago she would've been right." Boomer grumbled at his red brother.

"Hey, don't forget that she nearly killed us last Sunday." Buttercup said. "And I really don't buy that HIM forced her into it."

"You've forgiven us for worse." Butch said.

"That's 'cause we like you guys." Bubbles replied, smiling at Boomer.

"So it's just about who you like better?" Brick asked. "She may be a brat, but she's still a decent fighter."

"And rich!" Butch added. "Might be nice having her on our side. Better than against us, anyway."

The Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys continued deliberating for a few more minutes before reaching a decision. Once they did, they broke the huddle and Blossom turned to Princess. "Alright, Princess, here's the deal. We've decided to let you join as a probationary member. You'll have six months to prove you have what it takes, and if you do, we'll let you on the team for real."

"A probationary member?!"

"Take it or leave it."

Princess balled her hand into a fist at her side, but then let it go. She thought about how her younger self would have responded, probably by throwing a fit and demanding full membership right off the bat. But unlike the other villains, Princess had actually matured a little over the years and learned to think things through. She now understood that a tantrum would be futile and counterproductive. The most rational choice was to take the offer and wait it out. With that, she extended her hand to Blossom. "Alright, I accept."

"Then welcome aboard." Blossom shook Princess' hand. "Brick and I will discuss the terms with you later." With that, the seven superheroes exited the front door. As they did, they noticed the citizens of Townsville gathered around. Once they were out the door, the crowd cheered for their victory over the Abomination. Blossom was approached by several reporters.

"Fredrico Chang, CTN. Care to comment on your battle with the supervillain?"

"Were you scared at all?"

"Will Princess and the Rowdyruff Boys become permanent members of Team Powerpuff?"

"Are the rumors about you girls and the Rowdyruff Boys true?"

Blossom's eye twitched, then she picked up a mic and began answering. "Well…"


	16. Chapter 16

Blossom finished doing her hair and tied it off with her bow. Bubbles put up her pigtails and donned her bracelet. Buttercup just threw on the same old dress she wore every day. It had been three days since the Abomination's defeat, three days of their friends and acquaintances teasing and "congratulating" them for their relationships with the Rowdyruff Boys. Having a third-rate tabloid reporter asking about those rumors was bad enough, but leave it to Bubbles to yank the mic away from Blossom and confirm everything. Naturally, Townsville's three literal power couples were the only thing anyone talked about afterwards.

That aside, the Powerpuff Girls had been looking forward to this day all week. All three of them had dates with the Boys. And beyond that, it looked like things would be relatively quiet for the time being. Mojo, Fuzzy, Sedusa and the Gangreen Gang were all in jail, Princess had switched sides, and the Amoeba Boys were still as hopelessly incompetent as ever. Of course, HIM was still out there somewhere, but even he wouldn't be crazy enough to take them on right after they just defeated him. With most of their rogues' gallery accounted for, hopefully the team would be able to take it easy and enjoy life for a while.

Blossom picked up her chess set. "Well, I'm off. See you girls later."

"You and Brick are gonna play chess?" Buttercup snickered. "You guys are such dorks."

"Well, what are you and Butch doing?" Blossom asked.

"Oh, he and I have a little score to settle." Buttercup cracked her nonexistent knuckles.

"You would." Bubbles said. "I'm going to the park. Boomer said he had a surprise for me."

"Who asked you?" Buttercup responded.

The three girls each floated up to the bedroom windows. Just before they left, they heard a knock on their door. Bubbles opened it to let the Professor in. "Hi, girls. I know you're about to head out, and I won't keep you long. It's just… be careful around those boys, okay?"

"Professor, you worry too much." Bubbles replied.

"Well, I'm your father. I can't help it."

"We'll be fine." Blossom assured him. "See you later, Professor."

"See you, girls." With that, the Powerpuff Girls flew out the windows while their father stood there and waved goodbye. Once they were gone, he let out a big, long sigh. "I need to go lie down."

*****

The Rowdyruff Boys finished unpacking their things and setting up their room. Last night while he and Blossom discussed the terms of Princess' probation with her, Brick let it slip that he and his brothers were basically homeless. Princess offered to let them stay at Morbucks Manor, which they accepted. Living with her would be grating, but it was a small price to pay to be on Easy Street. Now that they were settled in, they began getting ready for their dates with the Powerpuff Girls when Princess floated by their room. "How you guys like it here?"

"It's amazing!" Butch replied.

"Eh, it's okay." Boomer shrugged, still disappointed that he couldn't stay with Bubbles.

"I could get used to it." Brick said. "By the way, what's your Wi-Fi password?"

"DiePPGs#66." Princess replied. "I should probably change that."

"Yeah, you probably should." Brick agreed while begrudgingly typing the password into his laptop. He then opened his browser to look up the place Blossom wanted to meet at.

"So… the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys, huh?" Princess said. "Honestly, I never would've guessed. Though in retrospect it was probably bound to happen."

"Are you going somewhere with this?" Brick asked, not bothering to look up from his computer.

"I just figured I should thank you guys. You and your hormones ended up giving me everything I ever wanted. After all these years, I'm finally a Powerpuff Girl!"

"A probationary Powerpuff Girl." Brick corrected her.

"You're welcome." Butch said sarcastically. "Next time you need us to freeze you solid and blow you up, just ask."

"You know I can kick you out any time, right?"

"Shutting up."

Princess snickered, then turned to Boomer. "Carmichael's ready at the front gate."

"Got it." Boomer got up and left through the door.

"I'm outta here. Wish me luck." Butch flew out the window. Brick followed shortly after, leaving Princess alone.

"I suppose I should get ready for my thing, too."

*****

Blossom arrived at Antelope Coffee to find Brick sitting outside waiting for her. Once she touched down, Brick got up and floated up next to her. "How's it goin'?" He touched her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. Blossom pulled back before their lips made contact.

"Brick, we're in public."

"So? Everyone in town already knows."

Blossom sighed. "Yeah, I guess they do." _I'm gonna kill you in your sleep, Bubbles!_ She put down her chess set, then leaned in and kissed Brick. The other coffee shop patrons averted their gaze while the couple went inside to order. After getting their drinks, they moved back outside and Blossom set up the chessboard. Brick took a minute before starting the game to admire the craftsmanship of the pieces.

"Man, what I wouldn't give for a set this nice."

"Yeah. It's great to finally get some use out of it."

"Shame you're gonna lose. How 'bout we make this interesting? Loser buys lunch."

"You're on. I was in the mood for some sushi." Blossom took the first turn as Brick gagged, moving one of her pawns two spaces. "So how's life at Morbucks Manor?"

"It's pretty good, all things considered." Brick moved his knight. "Did you ever think things would turn out this way?"

"No, I never saw it coming." Blossom moved another pawn. "Seems like everyone else did, though."

"Everyone except Mojo." Brick moved one of his pawns. "I wonder what's going through his big empty head right now."

"Knowing him, the irony's probably driving him insane." Blossom deployed her bishop. "Well, more insane than usual."

"Yeah. The boys he created to destroy the Powerpuff Girls ended up dating the Powerpuff Girls." Brick captured one of Blossom's pawns with his knight. He then did his best Mojo Jojo impression. "'It was me. It was me. It was me. It was me…'"

Blossom laughed. "Nice one." She moved her other bishop. "To be honest, Princess joining the team feels even weirder."

Brick deployed his queen. "Is she really that bad?" As if on cue, the two of them heard some music and paused their game. They looked down the street to see a marching band followed by Princess' limousine and two elephants walking behind it. Each elephant wore a purple caparison with 'Introducing: the Powerpuff Princess' embroidered onto it in yellow, while two of Princess' servants rode the elephants and tossed confetti around. Princess herself was floating just above the limo, smiling and waving at everyone on the sidewalk. Blossom and Brick froze up trying to process the sheer ridiculousness of what they were seeing. Princess noticed the red heroes and called out to them.

"Hey, Blossom! Thanks again for making me a Powerpuff Girl!" she shouted as she passed by. Blossom and Brick simply stared at her in shock. Once the parade was out of earshot, they resumed their conversation.

"That answer your question?" Blossom captured Brick's knight with her rook.

"This is gonna be a long six months." Brick captured Blossom's rook with his bishop. "At least you're not living with her."

"Thank goodness for that." Blossom moved her knight, then shot Brick a dirty look. "Don't get too friendly with her."

"Who, whoa, whoa, take it easy! I don't even…!" Brick noticed Blossom smirking and giggling at him. "Okay, you got me." He captured one of Blossom's pawns with his queen.

"Now we're even." Blossom moved her rook.

"Well, try to keep your jealousy under control." Brick moved his queen. "We're gonna need her if we wanna use the Glorious Shining Dragon again."

"The Glorious Shining Dragon?" Blossom moved another pawn.

"I'm still working on names." Brick moved his bishop. "Checkmate."

"What?!" Blossom scoured the board with her eyes. After looking over everything for a solid minute, it was clear that Brick had in fact checkmated her. "One more game! Double or nothing!"

"Double or nothing on lunch?"

"Loser buys lunch and dinner." Blossom said. Before Brick could accept her challenge, both their phones started ringing.

"Looks like that'll have to wait." Brick picked up his phone and answered. "What is it, Mayor?"

*****

Bubbles sat impatiently on a bench in Townsville Park. What was taking Boomer so long? He should've gotten here ten minutes ago. Did he forget he could fly or something? As much as Bubbles loved him, she couldn't just ignore how stupid he could be sometimes. But he'd never be so stupid as to stand her up. Bubbles took out her phone to call him, but then she suddenly dropped it and gasped.

Boomer had arrived in a carriage drawn by a beautiful white horse. The carriage was white and spherical, like something out of a fairy tale, and was driven by Princess' servant Carmichael dressed in a tuxedo and a top hat. Boomer exited the carriage, then floated down next to Bubbles. "I thought we'd ride around town in this thing. You like it?"

"I love you, Boomer." Bubbles replied, picking up her phone and staring in awe at his grand romantic gesture.

"I'll take that as a yes." Boomer took Bubbles' hand. "Your carriage awaits, my lady." He opened the door and the two of them floated inside. Carmichael took the reins and the horse started walking. Bubbles and Boomer sat down and Boomer put his arm around Bubbles' shoulders as they enjoyed the ride.

"Where'd you get this?" Bubbles asked.

"I borrowed it from Princess." Boomer gestured forward. "That one's her favorite horse. Her name's Powerpuff."

"Obsessed much?" Bubbles giggled, then sighed. "I still can't believe you're staying at her house after what she did to you."

"That's only 'cause Brick and Butch outvoted me. But she did let me use this carriage, so I guess I can forgive her. I'd still rather be living with you, though."

"Forget it. The Professor would never let that happen." Bubbles reminded him. Boomer thought back to three days ago when the Girls and the Boys returned to the Utonium house after the press conference. All the Rowdyruff Boys did was return the suits and pick up their stuff before leaving, but apparently the Professor had seen the live broadcast. That look on his face as the Boys left would be permanently etched into their retinas. Boomer shuddered just thinking about it.

"You had to know he'd be watching. Why'd you have to tell the whole world about us like that?"

"Because I've wanted to for years."

 _Aw, man! Here comes the guilt again._ Boomer fell silent for a moment before asking her something he'd wondered ever since he confessed to her. "What'd you ever see in me? I mean, I was so horrible to you."

"Well, I always thought you were cute." Bubbles began. "But I think it was after that day I pretended to be you. I saw how Brick and Butch treated you and I just felt sorry for you. Then there was that time you kissed me…"

"You know I was trying to make you explode, right?"

"Yeah, but still." Bubbles closed her eyes and rested on Boomer's shoulder. "Oh, it doesn't matter. We're together now. I'm happier than I've ever been in my life."

"Yeah, me too." Boomer grabbed Bubbles' chin and she looked up. As the two of them leaned in for a kiss, their phones went off. Both of them groaned as they picked up and answered. "What is it, Mayor?" Boomer grumbled.

*****

Buttercup stood still in the middle of Townsville Junkyard. She closed her eyes, listening intently for even the slightest disturbance. After several minutes, her eyes shot open as Butch flew in from behind like a meteor. Buttercup dodged to the left as Butch struck the ground where she was standing. He quickly got up and threw a punch and Buttercup, who blocked it and countered with a punch of her own, which hit Butch squarely in the chest. He tumbled back as she followed up with another punch, but Butch kicked her in the stomach before she could land it, launching her into a pile of wrecked cars. As he advanced on her, she picked up a car and threw it at him, which he dodged by flying upward. Buttercup picked up another car and took to the sky.

"Using weapons? Pathetic." Butch taunted. Buttercup ignored him and attempted to slam the car onto his head. Butch looked up and used his laser eyes to cut the car in half. That proved to be all the distraction Buttercup needed to fly straight at him and tackle him to the ground. Once they touched down, the two of them wailed on each other until Buttercup pinned Butch down. He wiggled his arm free and grabbed a clump of dirt, hoping to rub it in Buttercup's face, but she quickly smacked it out of his hand.

"I know your stupid tricks."

"Do you know this one?" Butch activated his forcefield, which pushed Buttercup off of him. He then punched her in the face and knocked her back. Buttercup retaliated with a barrage of lasers. Butch put up his shield to deflect them, but quickly realized his mistake. Before he could drop it, Buttercup slammed into him at full speed, shattering the shield. The force of the blow put Butch in a momentary daze, which Buttercup took advantage of by knocking him to the ground face-down and grabbing his arm and holding it behind his back.

"Say it!" Buttercup yelled

"I'll never…" Buttercup twisted Butch's arm. "Gah!"

"I said say it!"

"Grr… uncle." Butch surrendered and Buttercup let him go. The two of them stood up and faced each other, panting heavily.

"Second-best fighter, huh?"

"Next time, Buttercup. Next time." Butch smiled at her and Buttercup smiled back. With that, the green heroes embraced each other and kissed.

"Not your typical first date, huh?"

"Can't think of anything else I'd rather do. Except maybe…" Before Butch could finish, his and Buttercup's phones rang. Buttercup was first to answer.

"What is it, Mayor?"

*****

"Powerpuff Girls, Rowdyruff Boys, help! There's a gigantic lobster destroying Townsville! Hurry and save us!"

"I'm on my way." Princess hung up her phone. "Everyone, stop!" she yelled to the marching band. "I have to go save the day!" With that, she flew off to join her teammates. The parade paused and awaited her return.

After a minute, the Powerpuff Girls, the Rowdyruff Boys and Princess Morbucks all met up in the sky above downtown Townsville. Their enemy was smashing buildings nearby, then looked to them and roared, beckoning them to challenge it.

"Can we make this quick? I have a parade to get back to." Princess said. The others scowled at her.

"We're gonna have to talk about that later." Blossom replied.

"Oh, come on! I've been planning that since I was six. Can't I just have a little fun?"

"Just leave it for now." Brick intervened. "We've gotta deal with this overgrown crayfish."

"Alright, then." Blossom agreed. "Team Powerpuff, attack!"

As the seven heroes flew in to save the day, the Narrator said his final piece. "So once again, the day is saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls! And the Rowdyruff Boys!"

"Ahem!"

"And, yeah, Princess helped too, I guess."

_**THE END** _


End file.
